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Metal sculptor Yves Darius of Croix Bosquets, Haiti, shows off one of his pieces. His work will be among the many crafts available at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Crafts fair Saturday and Sunday. Photograph by Jennifer Patntaléon.
Metal sculptor Yves Darius of Croix Bosquets, Haiti, shows off one of his pieces. His work will be among the many crafts available at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Crafts fair Saturday and Sunday. Photograph by Jennifer Patntaléon.
 

News

Buying with a Conscience at the International Holiday Crafts Fair

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007

The “tap-tap-tap” you hear coming from the shops that line some of the narrow streets in Croix des Bosquets is the sound of artisans pounding nails into metal, crafting the recycled iron mermaids or butterflies that have given the bustling, dusty town, just 15 minutes northeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, its reputation for metal sculpture, says Jennifer Pantaléon, whose nonprofit, Zanmi Lakay, brings Haitian arts and crafts to buyers in the U.S. 

Haiti is just one of the countries whose crafts will be showcased at the this year’s East Bay Sanctuary’s International Holiday Crafts Fair Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 1 and 2), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way.  

The fair will feature Kurdish rugs, textiles from Guatemala, and various crafts from cooperatives in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Palestine. 

Pantaléon says that while most of the crafts featured at the fair have not gone through a lengthy and sometimes expensive fair trade certification process, vendors vouch for the fact that the products were made under safe conditions and that the artists have been paid a fair price. 

“The U.N. soldiers [occupying Haiti] haggle—we don’t haggle over the price,” says Pantaléon, whose nonprofit funds job training and education for street children and former street children in Haiti. Pantaléon pointed out that these days there are few tourists in Haiti to buy the artists’ creations.  

 

Palestinian embroidery 

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) is also hosting an international fair. The event is next Saturday, Dec. 8, noon-6 p.m. at St. John’s Church, 2727 College Ave. and features crafts from Palestine and rugs from Turkey. 

Among the offerings will be embroidered blouses, shawls, bags and wallets from the Women’s Embroidery Collective in the Dheisheh Refugee camp in the West Bank, Deborah Agre, MECA development director, told the Planet. 

“So many men are unemployed—the women use traditional crafts to support their families,” Agre said, adding that MECA has helped to build the structure in which the women work.  

Ceramics, olive oil, and olive oil soap from various parts of Palestine will also be available at the fair. 

 

KPFA too 

For locals willing to cross the bridge—or BART it—to “the city,” the annual KPFA crafts fair, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Dec. 8 and 9, includes numerous fair-trade buying opportunities among the more than 200 juried artists and craftspeople. 

The fair is at the Concourse Exhibition Center at Eighth and Brannan streets. Entry fee is $10 and $6 for seniors and disabled; under 17 are free. Shuttles run from Civic Center BART. 

Jan Etre, event coordinator, says sales by women’s cooperatives in Guatemala, Thailand, India, Napal and Haiti, whose crafts will be available at the fair, helps keep rural populations from migrating to overcrowded cities and keeps the women from having to sustain their families through prostitution. 

Dreams on Looms will be at the fair to showcase place mats, runners and pillowcases from northeast India. They are produced by highly skilled but low-income women weavers earning living wages and “hand-woven on bamboo looms by co-operatives of women belonging to the Bodo, Dimasa and Karbee tribes of Assam, residing in the Brahmaputra valley and nestled in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas,” according to the Dreams on Looms website.  

The KPFA fair also features live local music, including jazz artist Rhonda Benin, who performs at 4 p.m. Saturday. See www.kpfa.org/craftsfair/ for the complete lineup. 

 

St. Joseph the Worker 

For those who want to understand more about the formal fair-trade process and shop for fair-trade goods at the same time, St. Joseph the Worker’s Social Justice Committee is hosting a “Fair Trade Fair” featuring Laurie Lyser of TransFair, who will explain Fair Trade certification and show a short film.  

The event is at 7 p.m., Dec. 7 at St. Joseph the Worker School, 2125 Jefferson Street. The venue is not wheelchair accessible. 

Fair-trade items available for purchase will be Divine Chocolate from TransFair, Palestinian Olive Oil from the Jewish Voice for Peace and coffee from Just Coffee, which calls itself “Coffee with a Conscience.” 

Bill Joyce, of the Social Justice Committee, says that the coffee co-op in Chiapas is able to offer work there, so that workers do not have to immigrate to the U.S. Joyce has visited the processing operation on the Arizona border. “It’s a two-car garage sort of thing,” he said. 

 

Elephant Pharmacy  

Al Briscoe, director of marketing for Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave., says among his favorite fair-trade gift items are colorful finger puppets from Peru—four-inch-tall lions, giraffes, elephants and more made from 100 percent alpaca wool. 

“They’re super soft and have great detail,” he told the Planet. Full-size puppets are also available. They’re marketed by Playful World, which brokers fair-trade agreements with the artisans. 

All officially certified fair-trade items in the store are noted, Briscoe said, adding that they carry some items transitioning to fair trade that are not yet certified. 

Other fair-trade items on the Elephant Pharmacy shelves are silk bags made from recycled saris, chocolate and coffee. 

 

Global Exchange  

The nonprofit Global Exchange store at 2840 College Ave. specializes in fair trade and carries items from 60 different countries. Assistant manager Marilyn Nebolsky especially likes the bamboo salad bowls from Vietnam. 

The artisans get paid a fair wage and the product is made from bamboo, a sustainable, easily renewable crop, she said. 

 

Take Nothing Home (but a paper) 

Rev. Douglas Moss of the Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito invites the public to bring nothing home from the Dec. 1 sale (1-5 p.m.) but a gift certificate showing a purchase of cows, goats, gloves or a night in a shelter. 

“You’ll go home with no stuff in your hands,” Moss told the Planet on Tuesday. Many times gift giving becomes an obligation, but it should be a joy, he said. That’s where the certificate of purchase comes in. 

Instead of buying your grandmother talcum powder, you can spend $11 for milk and snacks for children in the Gaza Strip. Eleven dollars will also buy a rocket stove for use in Haiti—the stove uses half the wood a regular stove would. 

For $5,000 you can purchase two cows, two sheep, two oxen and two water buffalo destined for people in various countries around the globe. 

There will also be gifts to address local needs. One can purchase a night at YEAH, a youth shelter in Berkeley, or gloves for Friends of Five Creeks, which maintains local waterways. 

“It’s a way to do something and feel really good about it,” Moss said. 


Council Cleans Up Commons for Shoppers

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007

 

Once known for tolerance toward the downtrodden, Berkeley turned a corner Tuesday night, advocates for the homeless and mentally ill say, when the City Council voted to give police greater power to give citations to people lying on city sidewalks. 

The business community, on the other hand, claimed victory in the eight-month fight to pass Mayor Tom Bates' Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, saying the measure begins to address the inappropriate street behavior of those who trample on the right of shoppers to enjoy the public commons and for merchants to earn their living. 

While the public filled the Council Chambers—with most expressing opposition to the proposed laws making it easier for police to cite people lying on the sidewalk—little resistance to the initiative’s increased restrictions on smoking was expressed.  

And most who spoke publicly also favored provisions for enhanced services to chronically homeless people, to be paid for by raising parking meter fees to collect an estimated $1 million in revenue. (Specifics on how the city manager’s office arrived at the $1 million figure will not be available until next week.) 

However, several speakers pointed out that services promised in the initiative, particularly increasing the availability of public toilets and funding supportive housing, could have been delivered without the tie to punitive measures. 

For attorney Osha Neumann, linking services with restrictions was like an abusive husband saying to his wife: “I'll support you, but you have to accept this abuse,” he told the council. 

Councilmember Max Anderson said no new laws are needed. “Some of these [services] could have been accomplished a long time ago ... We have to balance this some way so we don’t have to criminalize people to get them into these programs,” he said. 

The council vote on the initiative was divided into three parts: 

• A resolution that requires one warning (down from two) and no complaint to enforce a ban on lodging in public places—Berkeley police interpret “lodging” as lying down in a sleeping bag, sleeping, or having goods clustered around oneself—with enforcement a low priority between 10 p.m. and 6 p.m.” passed 5-3-1, with Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli, Betty Olds, Gordon Wozniak and Darryl Moore voting in favor, Councilmembers Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson voting to oppose and Councilmember Linda Maio abstaining. 

• An ordinance that expands the number of commercial districts in which lying on the sidewalk is prohibited was approved 6-2-1, with Bates, Moore, Maio, Capitelli, Olds and Wozniak voting in favor, Worthington and Spring opposed and Anderson abstaining. 

• A third vote approved greater restrictions on where people can smoke also passed and, in concept, a 25 cent per hour meter fee hike to pay for various services for homeless persons. This vote was 8-0 with Anderson abstaining. 

The business community was represented at the meeting by the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Berkeley Association, the Telegraph Avenue Business Improvement District and the North Shattuck Association.  

“Berkeley for a long time has tried to build a very big tent. We’re now in a situation where we’re having difficulty with parts of that tent,” Chamber CEO Ted Garrett told the council. “This [initiative] isn’t a panacea, but it’s the beginning of a win-win situation for everyone concerned.” 

Chamber President Roland Peterson, also executive director of the Telegraph Avenue BID, had lobbied for harsher laws, including one that would have punished people for prolonged sitting on the sidewalk.  

“There really are no new laws in this,” he told the council. “There are fine tunings on how it’s going to be enforced … This is one step in a much larger process. We’re going to be coming back to see how this has worked.” 

Wozniak blamed the stagnating business climate on Telegraph and downtown on the inappropriate behavior of people on the street. “On Telegraph and Shattuck, we have a very high commercial vacancy rate. We’re losing revenue. It’s very important that we do something about the problematic street behavior,” he said. 

Several Telegraph Avenue merchants, however, told the Planet in earlier interviews that they believed the numerous vacancies were caused by high rents, difficulties in getting city permits and the economy, including the bankruptcy of Tower Records and the nationwide scaling-back of the Gap stores, rather than the behavior of street people. 

Worthington told council colleagues that linking people lying on the sidewalk to under-performing business did not make sense. 

“When I hear business owners talking about problematic street behavior, they’re usually talking about someone standing and cursing or gesticulating wildly,” Worthington said. “Ironically, none of the measures here address that.”  

People aren’t afraid that someone lying down is going to hit them “and they don’t feel scared when they see somebody at nighttime sleeping,” Worthington added. “So these solutions to problematic street behavior—it’s inconceivable that they could work. None of those things address problematic street behavior.” 

Calling the initiative “disingenuous,” Kokavulu Lumukanda, a formerly homeless member of the Homeless Commission, called on the council not to support the initiative.  

“The homeless need more services and permanent housing and not coercion or punitive measures,” he said. 

 

 

Proposed Services Budget for Public Commons Initiative 

 

$1 million — to be raised with $.25 cent per hour increase in meter fees 

Public toilets: $142,000 

Supportive housing/outreach to chronically homeless: $350,000 

Transition age program: $100,000 

SSI Benefits advocacy: $78,000 

Centralized homeless intake system: $60,000 

Host program (guides on Telegraph/Shattuck to help tourists, report 

inappropriate behavior): $200,000 

Public Seating: $60,000 

Signs/outreach for smoking ban: $10,000 

 

—from Nov. 27 city staff report 


Next Steps for the Public Commons

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007

While enforcement for new restrictions against those lying on the sidewalk and smoking in commercial areas will likely begin within six weeks, new services—lauded by supporters as an integral part of the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative passed by the City Council Tuesday—will take more time. 

Police spokesperson Lt. Wesley Hester told the Planet Wednesday that the resolution making it easier to cite people for public “lodging” will kick in only after the police chief gives officers specific directions for implementation.  

The resolution amends local guidelines for enforcing a state law prohibiting “lodging” to require one warning and no complaint, with enforcement a low priority between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.” (The original resolution required two warnings; the citation was complaint-driven.) 

Attorney Osha Neumann told the council Tuesday that police were not waiting for the council to approve the new laws to crack down on the homeless. He alleged that they began as soon as the council approved the concept of the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative (PCEI) in June. 

Neumann spoke of three clients he said had been wrongly cited by police.  

A disabled woman who uses a wheelchair was cited for loitering near a school in Willard Park (next to the middle school) during the day, he said. A young man sitting against the locked gate of an empty store on a public sidewalk on Telegraph Avenue was cited for trespassing, he said.  

And a 62-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair, is legally blind, has been diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, cancer and schizophrenia and is in constant pain, was cited for trespassing as she was sitting in a doorway of an empty storefront on University Avenue, Neumann said. 

The council had requested but was unable to obtain documentation on the frequency of quality-of-life citations, prosecutions and convictions—and the city manager’s office denied the Planet’s similar Public Records Act request—saying it was not possible to get that information from the Berkeley Police Department’s computerized records system. 

At the meeting, Councilmember Linda Maio repeatedly asked the police representative and city attorney how the prohibition against “lodging,” a state law, was implemented in Berkeley. She said sleeping people should not be harassed and wanted to be sure “people would still be able to sleep in sleeping bags.” 

The response was non-committal. “There would be no change in how we apply the law,” responded acting City Attorney Zach Cowan.  

“The main difference is that we could act without a citizen complaint,” Capt. Eric Gustafson, sitting in for the police chief, added. 

Maio pressed for specifics: “Under what circumstances would you invoke this law?” she asked.  

Gustafson said he could not think of an example, and Maio said: “We’re being asked to change something that is broken, but we don’t know what is broken about it. Why is it that we would disturb someone who is sleeping in a doorway?” 

The Berkeley Police Department Training and Information Bulletin Number 220 says: “…647(j) [the state law prohibiting lodging] applies when there is probable cause to believe that the person is lodging outside for the entire night on public property … Factors to consider in deciding whether to cite for violation of PC 647 (j) include whether the person: is on or in a sleeping bag or bedroll; is sleeping; has other belonging[s] clustered around and/or otherwise appears to be staying for the entire night; appears or is reported to have been at the location for an extended period of time.” 

Asked by the Planet for specifics about how officers currently implement prohibitions against lodging, Hester said it is up to an officer’s discretion.  

Asked to explain enforcement as “low priority,” Hester gave an example: if a person is seen “lodging” and if a robbery is in progress, the officer will respond to the robbery. 

 

New Ordinances 

The ordinance expanding prohibitions against smoking to larger areas within commercial districts, in parks and near health facilities, child care facilities and senior centers, and the ordinance prohibiting lying in all commercial areas will get a second reading at the Dec. 11 council meeting and take effect 30 days later. 

To pay for new services, new revenue—an anticipated $1 million annually—will be raised from a 25 cent per hour increase in parking meter rates. The council will consider an ordinance to that effect in January. Lauren Lempert, consultant on the PCEI, told the Planet Wednesday she expects meters to be recalibrated by March.  

To approve new services, the council must pass specific ordinances or resolutions and then approve contracts with vendors. In some instances, vendors will bid on the services.  

Lempert said she thinks increased advocacy for homeless persons to get disability payments, Medi-Cal and food stamps (for which the council has tentatively set aside $78,000) could begin soon after the council formally approves the services, given that the Homeless Action Center already does this work and can be asked to expand it. 

Lempert said expanding bathroom hours could happen in January or February (for which $142,000 is set aside) and new supportive housing for 10 to 15 of the city’s most difficult to house chronically homeless people (at $350,000) could be in place by April. 

Services that will go out to bid will take longer to implement. With council approval, they could include hiring “hosts” (at $200,000) to watch commercial areas for inappropriate behavior and help tourists and increasing public seating and trash receptacles (at $60,000). 

In a report to the council on PCEI, Lempert referred to the possible establishment of a community court where people would not be criminalized for acts of lying on the sidewalk, lodging, smoking or other quality-of-life offenses, but instead be allowed or required to perform community service and go into mandatory drug/alcohol treatment programs. The report does not include a formal proposal or costs for the court. 

As the new laws kick in, opponents of the Public Commons initiative promised to continue to fight it, with local resident Carol Denney telling the council to expect a “lie-in” on the sidewalk at the Downtown Berkeley Association offices. 


BioFuel Project Clashes with Kandy’s Car Wash at Corner

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday November 30, 2007

A vehement burst of community protest compelled the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) to postpone permitting BioFuel Oasis to establish a filling station at 1441 Ashby Ave. Thursday. 

More than fifty people turned up to voice a position on the controversial project, which proposes to displace Kandy’s Detail—a black-owned car wash business—and restore the historic use of the site as an automobile fueling station. It previously was used for selling petroleum-based gasoline. 

The board voted unanimously to give property owner Craig Hertz, current tenant Kandy Alford and BioFuel Oasis two months to reach an agreement about shared use of the site. 

While proponents of the all-women cooperative BioFuel Oasis, currently located at 2465 4th St., stressed the station’s need to relocate to a larger site and the benefits of biodiesel automotive fuel, neighbors complained of prejudice against the black community, and said that the city’s planning department had given preferential treatment to the proposed new tenants. 

Co-founded by Jennifer Radtke and Sara Hope Smith from a community project in 2003, the business is the first biofueling station in the East Bay.  

The proposed filling station would include an above-ground 6,000 gallon fuel storage tank. The four existing driveways and two fuel pump islands—which allow up to four vehicles to be fueled simultaneously—would be retained.  

“We want to transform the site into an oasis-like setting,” said David Arkin, project architect. “Our model is Cafe Roma.” 

Arkin added that the business has been forced to move from its current location because of the long wait customers go through. “The two pumps will make the fill up easier,” he said. 

The station’s approximately 2,000 customers will be able to access the pumps from 7 a.m. to midnight. 

Although the owners of the fueling station said that the hours of operation would lead to “more pairs of eyes” in the neighborhood, some board members disagreed. 

“Yes, it would make a difference to have more pairs of eyes but it would also create a different level of vulnerability,” said Deborah Matthews, Mayor Tom Bates’ new appointee to the ZAB. 

Board member Jesse Anthony said that he was worried about the congestion the station would cause at the intersection of Ashby and Sacramento avenues. 

“Don’t you think that’s a wrong place to have a fueling station?” he asked. 

“We have looked and looked and looked,” said Radtke, who like other co-op members calls herself a BioFuel Oasis owner-operator. “Unfortunately there is no other site in Berkeley.” 

Dave Fogarty, the city’s economic development director, said that the other sites available in Berkeley were not zoned for fueling use because of restrictions on auto uses. 

He added that there were virtually no sites available in the city where Kandy Alford could relocate his car wash. “If he did, he would have to comply with new laws regarding waste water disposal, which the existing car wash business is not in compliance with,” Fogarty said. 

According to the Biofuel plan, existing fuel pump canopies would be removed to provide vertical clearance for taller vehicles, and new, taller canopies with solar panel roofs would be constructed on the existing brick columns. Ten on-site parking spaces would be provided. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted against declaring the site a landmark in June, and advised the applicant to incorporate some of the scalloped beam details from the building and existing island canopies into the new structure. 

“What BioFuel is proposing is fantastic,” said Hertz. “It’s the best thing that happened in and around that area ... It makes economic sense. I have asked Kandy if he wants to move to another place or share the site, but he doesn’t want to do it.” 

Hertz added that Alford was six months behind on his rent and was facing eviction. 

“He was not able to pay his rent because he was in the hospital,” said Pamela Isaacs, who identified herself as a spokesperson for Alford. “He is still sick ... We are not against BioFuel Oasis but we don’t want it in our neighborhood. This is all about gentrification, about getting rid of black businesses.” 

Toya Groves, a member of the Four Corners Association, a neighborhood community group formed to protest the project, said that the project ignored the retention and encouragement of black businesses in South Berkeley and the revitalization of the community’s economic base. 

“It goes against the goals of the South Berkeley Area Plan,” she said. “Kandy’s is a cornerstone of the South Berkeley community which hires and serves the community it is a part of ... You are saying that BioFuel will revive the neighborhood’s economy but they themselves are in a financial bind. The planning department waived fees of up to $8,000 for the proposed project because of financial hardship and even prepared the EIR for them. This is institionalized racism ... It’s splitting two community groups who should be together.” 

Board member Terry Doran called the carwash an “asset to the community.” 

“Do you have any idea of how to make the transition better for Kandy?” asked board member Suzanne Wilson. 

BioFuel oasis owner-operator Margaret Farrow said that no specific ideas had been discussed at this point.


Council Approves Funds For Ed Roberts Campus Fund

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007

For some, council meetings are drudgery. But for Dimitri Belser, president of the Ed Roberts Campus board of directors, and others who came to Tuesday’s meeting to support the ERC, the session proved to be exactly what they had hoped for. 

“Tonight, that dream [of Ed Roberts Campus] could become a reality,” said Belser, just moments before the unanimous council voted to give $2 million to the project that will house seven nonprofits that serve disabled people, a fitness center for the disabled, and childcare. The campus will be located on the east Ashby BART station parking lot. 

With $4.5 million approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Wednesday and new funding from BART, the ERC has the $44 million it needs to break ground for the project that has been 12 years in the making. 

Councilmembers expressed concern that they were taking funds originally intended for a sound wall between Aquatic Park and the freeway, but pledged to find new funding for the wall, estimated to cost more than $5 million. 

 

In other council actions: 

• Councilmember Kriss Worthington withdrew a resolution supporting Metro Lighting workers in a dispute with their employer, saying that he placed it on the agenda with inadequate research. 

• By unanimous vote and without discussion the council gave a $50,000 sole source contract to Build It Green to do the groundwork for a pilot project funded by the city and the Department of Energy to get more homes and businesses to use solar energy. 

 

Solano Ave. BID 

At around midnight, Susan Boat, owner of the salon Scissors and Comb on Solano Avenue, addressed the council along with several other Solano Avenue business owners, calling for dissolution of the Solano Avenue Business Improvement District. 

They said they were not speaking simply for a handful of business owners, but that they brought with them petitions from 130 business owners calling for the dissolution of the district. The petitions, they said, represent nearly 60 percent of the membership and 59 percent of the value of the assessments. 

The merchants said they object to the involuntary nature of the district and the domination of Albany merchants on the board of the nonprofit—the Solano Avenue Association—that houses the BID. (There was a separate BID board that recently dissolved itself.) 

Economic Development Manager Dave Fogarty said in a phone interview on Thursday that it is up to the City Council to decide if the BID should be dissolved. The item was not on Tuesday’s agenda and, to date, has not been scheduled. 

 


Stadium Grove Tree-Sitters Set for First Anniversary

By Richard Brenneman
Friday November 30, 2007

Berkeley’s tree-sitters and their supporters are getting ready for Sunday’s celebration that will mark the end of the first year of a colorful campus protest. 

The events—slated for 2 to 6 p.m.—come as university officials have announced their plans to cut branches used to provide food, water and other supplies to the arboreal activists. 

“We’ve been getting a lot of interest from the press,” said Doug Buckwald, organizer of Save the Oaks at the Stadium and a plaintiff in the litigation challenging the university’s plans for a grove of California Live Oaks along the western wall of Memorial Stadium. 

“We want everybody to come out,” said Zachary Running Wolf, who started the protest by ascending the trunk of a redwood at the grove on the morning of last year’s Big Game day. 

Running Wolf has been arrested nine times in the intervening months.  

Campus police have been making frequent arrests of tree-sitters and their supporters, racking up five on Thanksgiving day. 

The university has erected two fences around the grove, adding a layer of barbed wire at the top after protesters repeatedly scaled the fence. 

Meanwhile, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Miller has been deliberating on the legal challenges filed by the city, two environmental groups, the Panoramic Hill Association and an assortment of other plaintiffs, including City Councilmember Dona Spring. 

Councilmember Betty Olds, environmentalist Sylvia McLaughlin and former Mayor Shirley Dean even took their own brief turn in the trees earlier this year, attracting attention from the New York Times and other national media. 

But the student turnout has been small at the Berkeley campus site where the university plans to build a $120 million high -tech gym and office complex. 

In Santa Cruz, a tree-sit launched Nov. 8 has succeeded in attracting larger numbers of students, who are protesting that campus’s Long Range Development Plan and its call for significant increases in students and buildings. 

Word of the university’s intent to cut branches on the edges of the grove surfaced last week, and formal confirmation came in an e-mail sent Monday from the office of the general counsel of the UC Board of Regents. 

The notice, sent by attorney Kelly Drumm, said the decision is “based solely on an assessment of security needs” by UC Berkeley Police Chief Victoria L. Harrison. 

Attorneys Stephan Volker and Michael Lozeau had asked that university officials consult with them before any action was taken, but in the e-mail Drumm said that the chief “believes that discussion of potential police actions in advance of those actions could compromise the effectiveness of those actions and exacerbate an already dangerous situation.” 

City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak met with university officials last week to raise concerns of his constituents that the tree-trimming operations could adversely impact the landmarked Gayley Way streetscape. The street was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, whose best-known creation is New York City’s Central Park. 

The Student Athlete High Performance Center planned for the western rim of the stadium is one of several projects in what the university calls the Southeast Campus Integrated Projects. 

The legal action now pending in Judge Miller’s court alleges that the environmental documents the regents approved for the gym complex aren’t legally adequate. Another aspect of the challenge centers on alleged violation of the Alquist-Priolo Act, which governs construction on or adjacent to earthquake faults. 

The Hayward Fault, which state and federal geologists have judged the likely source of the Bay Area’s next major earthquake, splits the stadium from end to end. 

Running Wolf said he is challenging the project because he believes the stadium is the site of a Native American burial ground.


BUSD Selects BHS Superintendent Finalists

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday November 30, 2007

The Berkeley Board of Education selected the finalists Monday to fill the post of superintendent for the Berkeley Unified School District. 

The board started the selection process in September after Superintendent Michele Lawrence announced her retirement. Lawrence will step down Feb. 1. 

District spokesperson Mark Coplan said up to six candidates had been picked for interviews scheduled for Dec. 8 and 9. 

Although board vice president John Selawsky said he could not comment on the number of finalists, he described the final pool as diverse. 

“We have some current superintendents in it,” he said. “The goal is to interview them all in a one- or two-day period and then after the board agrees on the finalist to bring that person back for a final interview.” 

Selawsky said the board will announce the new superintendent after visiting the candidate’s current district. He said the announcement will likely be made before the end of the year. 

Some have criticized the board for what they called a secretive selection process. Mission Viejo-based Leadership Associates, the search firm hired by the board to guide the search, and board members have said it was important to keep the search confidential. 

“I continue to have grave concerns about this process,” said Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers. “I think the board has missed an opportunity to advance a city-wide, community-wide approach to the challenges facing our district by having this closed-door, secret process, rather than a process that opens the door to community input. Three of the most important stakeholders in this district, parents, teachers and students, are completely excluded from any meaningful input into the decision.” 

Michael Miller, coordinator of the group Parents of Children of African Descent, agreed that the search process kept the public marginalized. 

“It’s quite distressing,” he said. “We want not only a qualified individual but someone who can meet the broad needs of our community ... While Michele Lawrence brought her skills in fiscal management at a time when our district was in financial difficulty, we now need a superintendent with the passion, skills, and experience to address issues of race and class and make student achievement the number one priority.” 

Selawsky said confidentiality was imperative for creating a strong pool of candidates. 

“Once it comes down to the final person it’s a different thing,” he said. “All personnel matters are confidential. If current superintendents end up not getting the job then their relationship with their community members get soured ... As a result we have to ensure them confidentiality.” 

Some Latino parents said that there was insufficient notice given to parent groups about the community meetings held in September. 

“There was excellent translation provided, but that was only at one meeting,” said Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, director of Centro Vida, a Berkeley Spanish-immersion preschool, a member of the Berkeley High Governance Council and parent of a Berkeley High junior. “I don’t think a lot of parents are even aware that there is a process underway or that there was an opportunity to talk about what they want in a new superintendent. Communication is the biggest barrier.”


Oakland School Officials Await Decision on Local Control

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 30, 2007

State Schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell appears ready to turn over two more areas of control to the Oakland Unified School District on the recommendation of the Fiscal Crisis & Assistance Management Team (FCMAT), a move that could lead directly to the hiring of a new OUSD superintendent under local control.  

O’Connell’s office has set up a conference in Oakland for Friday morning (today) in which it will “announce the process of returning two additional operational areas to the Oakland Unified School District governing board: Personnel and Facilities.” 

FCMAT, the state funded school intervention organization, issued a report on Wednesday in which it recommended that O’Connell turn over control of those two areas. The state superintendent began controlling all five OUSD operational areas—including finance, community relations and governance, and pupil achievement—following a 2003 state takeover of OUSD resulting from a massive district budget shortfall.  

At that time, the local board lost all power, and the local superintendent, Dennis Chaconas, was fired and replaced by a state administrator hired by O’Connell. 

The FCMAT report also said that it was close to a recommendation of return to local control to OUSD in a third area: pupil achievement. Control over a fourth area—community relations and governance—was returned by O’Connell to the local board earlier this year on FCMAT’s recommendation from two earlier reports. 

Clearly ebullient OUSD board member Gary Yee described the leaps in FCMAT’s assessments of OUSD’s performance from last year to this as “remarkable,” and called the report and its recommendations “the most powerful good news we’ve seen in the district in some time.” 

Under the original SB39 legislation that authorized the 2003 state takeover of OUSD, the state superintendent has the sole power to grant the return of local control in any operational area following the FCMAT recommendation. Earlier this year, the legislature passed Assemblymember Sandré Swanson’s AB45 bill that would have taken the local control restoration discretion out of the superintendent’s hands and given that return automatically upon FCMAT’s recommendation. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill. 

Following the release of this week’s FCMAT report, and even before O’Connell’s announcement of agreement with the organization’s recommendations, the OUSD board moved quickly to begin the process of employment of a superintendent. At Wednesday’s board meeting, OUSD Board President David Kakishiba said that he was putting an item on the board’s Dec. 8 retreat agenda that will “begin the dialogue on how we should go about the superintendent search process.” 

In a telephone interview held earlier on Wednesday, Kakishiba said that in past state takeovers of local school districts, the state has allowed the hiring of a local superintendent once three of the five operational areas have been returned to the local district. 

Kakishiba said that the granting of authority to hire a local superintendent after the return of three operational areas “is not set out in law, but it has been the past practice. Vallejo is the most recent example where that took place.” 

If O’Connell follows through with his announced plans to return the two additional areas to local control as expected, it would eventually mean a bifurcated administrative system in OUSD, in which the state-appointed administrator—currently interim administrator Vincent Matthews—would have sole and final authority over the areas of finance and pupil achievement, using the board as an advisory body only in these two areas. 

The board would set policy in the three remaining operational areas—community relations and governance, facilities management, and personnel management—and run them through the newly-hired local superintendent, but Matthews would act as a trustee in those areas, with the ability to veto any policies or actions if he considers them harmful to the district’s fiscal recovery. How that bifurcated administration would actually act in operation—and how much or little leeway and deference the state administrator would give the local superintendent and board—is unknown. 

O’Connell’s actions following the most current FCMAT recommendations—if he does follow through with abiding by them—contrasts sharply with his past treatment of OUSD. O’Connell ignored FCMAT’s recommendation of local control return in the area of community relations and governance for two years, and then granted it only after Swanson filed his proposed AB45 legislation, which would have taken the return authority out of O’Connell’s hands. 

At Wednesday night’s board meeting, board members gave the assemblymember full credit for moving the local control process forward. 

“I know that we didn’t have any of these areas returned until Swanson intervened,” board member Kerry Hamill said. “Before his bill was introduced, the process was dead.”


FCMAT Oakland Schools Report Summary

Friday November 30, 2007

FCMAT rates on a 10-point scale, with scores given to several individual standards within each of the five operational areas (community relations and governance, finance, facilities management, personnel management, and pupil achievement), and then the operational area itself is given an average of the individual standards scores.  

FCMAT only recommends return to local control of an operational area when the average of that operational area is at 6 or above, and where no individual standard within that operational area is given a score of less than 4. 

The most recent scores and how they changed from FCMAT’s last OUSD report: 

 

Community Relations and Governance 

(already returned to local control) Up 0.27 points, from 7.0 in 2006 to 7.27 in 2007.  

 

Personnel Management  

(recommended for return to local control) Up 1.4 points, from 5.2 in 2006 to 6.6 in 2007. 

 

Pupil Achievement 

(falls just below FCMAT recommendation for return to local control) Up 0.87 points, from 5.0 in 2006 to 5.87 in 2007. 

 

Financial Management 

(not recommended for return to local control) Up 1.3 points, from 4.0 in 2006 to 5.30 in 2007. 

 

Facilities Management 

(recommended for return to local control) Up 1.28 points, 5.8 in 2006 to 7.08 in 2007. 

 

The complete FCMAT report is posted on both the OUSD and FCMAT websites. 


Planners Tackle West Berkeley Density, Housing Rules

By Richard Brenneman
Friday November 30, 2007

Planning Commissioners began their trek through one of Berkeley’s most complex and cabalistic arts Wednesday night—deciphering the city’s policies on density bonus and inclusionary housing. 

Spurred by a City Council request made last spring, the city planning staff was ready to propose a zoning ordinance amendment that would have changed the law applicable to West Berkeley’s mixed-use residential (MU-R) zone, easing requirements (in that area only) for developers to provide low-income housing.  

But a majority of the commission wasn’t willing to schedule a hearing on the proposed ordinance without first considering its overall impacts on affordable housing supplies and its relationship to city policies designed to encourage development of less expensive housing. 

The inclusionary ordinance requires that 20 percent of units in projects of five or more apartments or condominums must be allocated for lower-income tenants in the case of apartments, or in condominium buildings for buyers who make less than 120 percent of area median income. 

In lieu of building the units, developers may pay a city fee that is supposed to be used to build affordable units elsewhere in Berkeley.  

The impetus for the council’s request for the West Berkeley zoning change was its rejection of an appeal by Berkeley developer Edward Adams to build a four-unit, three-story housing project at 2817 Eighth St. 

Under the current ordinance, the council and the Zoning Adjustments Board decided they had no option but to reject the project as it had been proposed. 

Current zoning allows for six units on the site, and the city’s inclusionary ordinance requires that the developer must pay a fee to help build affordable housing elsewhere if he fails to build up to a lot’s capacity. 

Adams told the commission that he had reduced the number of units to accommodate the desires of neighbors, but that the project would die if he had to pay inclusionary housing fees and other fees and costs which might add up to a third of a million dollars. 

“We would like to be able to do four units without a fee,” he said. 

Commissioner Harry Pollack and Chair James Samuels were ready to move for a hearing on a staff proposal for an amendment allowing for fewer units in the West Berkeley district on lots currently carrying a requirement for five units or more. 

While density standards now apply in the city’s R-1, R-1A, R-2 and R-2A residential districts, the West Berkeley zone is the only commercially-zoned area in the city where they are mandated. 

There are also no equivalent standards for the R-3 and R-4 zoning districts. 

City Assistant Planner Claudine Asbagh said the rationale for the district was to create a buffer zone between the city’s manufacturing and light industrial district and the residential neighborhoods to the east. 

Commissioner David Stoloff said he was concerned that the impact of a policy change could lead to a loss of affordable housing in the city. He didn’t want the Planning Commission to reach any decision before the city’s Housing Advisory Commission (HAC) weighed in with its own opinion. 

But planning staffer Alex Amoros, a relatively new hire, said that the proposal hadn’t been scheduled for the HAC. 

Commissioner Gene Poschman said that he and Susan Wengraf had pushed for creation of the inclusionary ordinance and the MU-R district in part “so there would be no loopholes for four-unit projects” like the one Adams had proposed. 

But he said he was also concerned because if a developer decided to build the required five or six units to meet the city’s inclusionary needs, the state density bonus law—mandating the city to allow the developer to build additional mass as a bonus for creating affordable housing units—could push the project up to seven units or more. 

Poschman said he was also concerned by a pending proposal to cut the inclusionary fees for units in high-end condo projects from 62 percent to 40 percent, while no similar reductions had been proposed for lower-cost condos.  

“I think Gene is saying he doesn’t want to look at a small piece, but at the whole thing,” said Pollack. “I’m saying that I want to look at this one small piece.” 

“I’m concerned about the impact on affordable housing here in Berkeley,” said Helen Burke, who urged a delay in action. “If it waited this long to get to us, what would be the harm of waiting a couple of months and looking at the whole picture?” 

“I am opposed to a public hearing for the same reasons as Helen,” said Stoloff, who often finds himself on the other side of votes from Burke. 

Land Use Planning Manager Debra Sanderson said a staff shortage had caused the delay in bringing the issue to the commission, and that staff viewed the proposed change as one of a number of “cleanup” ordinances they would be bringing to the commission in coming sessions. 

Stoloff offered an alternative motion, to put off any decision on a hearing till more information was at hand, but his proposal failed on a 3-3-1 vote to get the five votes needed for passage, with Larry Gurley abstaining and Roia Ferrazares, Samuels and Pollack voting no. Commissioners Dacey and Wengraf were absent Wednesday. But the motion to hold the hearing also failed to get the five votes needed for passage. 

Ferrazares said that when the question comes back for discussion, she would like to have a representative from HAC on hand to present that commission’s views. 

“I want to hear why MU-R is different from other zones, and I want to hear how this change might negatively affect the inclusionary ordinance,” she said. 

Wednesday night’s focus reflects increasing attention paid to West Berkeley by city staff and the council. 

Reconsideration of MU-R standards follows in the wake of the creation of zoning amendments which paved the way for car dealerships to set up operation in areas of West Berkeley where they were previously excluded. 

That move was spurred by Mayor Tom Bates, who said the rezoning was needed to keep dealerships—and the sales taxes they generate—from fleeing the city. 

Dealers and city staff said car manufacturers want dealerships concentrated in locations near freeways, while most of Berkeley’s dealers had been traditionally located on Shattuck Avenue. 

Other changes now under consideration would change the definition of what kinds of arts qualify for protected properties in West Berkeley, a move backed by the Civic Arts Commission, responding to a proposal to transform the old Peerless Lighting plant and surrounding land in West Berkeley into a large project that would feature corporate offices and labs as well as a small number of new live/work studios. 

The current definition of arts is limited to traditional manual crafts, while the new definition would extend privileges to artists who create with computer technology. 

Berkeley has been losing live/work artist units in recent years, with new units not keeping up with the attrition as properties are either demolished or transformed into more upscale projects.


Dellums to Break Up Police Department

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 30, 2007

The administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums moved swiftly to consolidate its recent police 12-hour day arbitration victory, announcing that the Oakland Police Department will be broken up into three “geographically accountable” command areas effective Jan. 19. 

Under the plan, police officers will work exclusively within their command areas, each area under the command of a single captain responsible for activities on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis.  

The new structure will replace OPD’s current shift command structure, in which patrol officers are moved throughout the city wherever needed. Dellums administration and police department officials believe the geographically accountable command structure is the first step towards instituting community policing in Oakland, a system that has long been talked about and called for, but never fully put in place. Officials also hope the move will be a major step in getting a handle on Oakland’s crime problem. 

One of the divisions will cover the North Oakland-West Oakland area, one the East Oakland area from Lake Merritt to High Street, and one from High Street to the San Leandro border. 

The announcement on the geographic division breakup comes only days after a national organization ranked Oakland as the fourth most dangerous city in the nation, and while Dellums is considering the adoption of a detailed community policing plan that would coordinate all of the city’s violence abatement services—from increasing street lighting to moving against problem properties to police actions—through the already existing, geographically based Service Delivery System. 

Dellums also said this week that he was preparing a list of six or eight proposals to present to Oakland City Council in the near future to increase both the number of police officers recruited by the Oakland Police Department and the number who actually make it through the academy and hiring process.  

Oakland currently has approximately 719 officers, 300 of them patrol officers, some 80 short of the authorized strength of 803. City and police officials have conducted an intense recruitment campaign in recent years to bring the department up to full strength, but the city has been hampered by the fact that only 50 officers are actually hired out of every 1,000 who respond to the recruitment. 

In addition, some Oakland community groups have been calling for an increase in the police strength to as many as 1,100. No group, however, has yet offered a plan how that number of police would be recruited or retained, or paid for if they were actually hired. 

While the geographical division plan has been in existence for years, OPD Chief Wayne Tucker said that it was impossible to fully implement under the district’s 10-hour shift pattern. Tucker proposed moving to 12-hour shifts, which he said would allow entire groups of officers to be assigned exclusively to one of the three proposed geographic areas in the city. The Oakland Police Officers Association police union opposed the 12-hour shift plan and the matter went to arbitration, where an arbitrator ruled in Tucker’s favor earlier this month. 

Flanked by police officials and key City Councilmembers at a press conference held Tuesday at Oakland’s Martin Luther King Jr. Way Emergency Operations Center, Dellums called the move to the geographical command structure a “major step forward. This is more than symbolic change. This is real change towards our goal of safety in Oakland.” 

Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan, speaking for an absent Chief Wayne Tucker, who was called to court on police arbitration matters, said the new system “gives us the opportunity to manage and respond to crime trends” in specific geographic areas in a way that is not currently possible, adding that the department has already begun meeting with groups and residents to explain the new system, with a Dec. 11 public presentation scheduled. Jordan said that the department has been phasing in the new structure for months, and expects it to be fully operational when the department switches over on Jan. 19. Still, he asked the public to be “patient and supportive” during the transition period before expecting full results. 

Councilmember Jean Quan was upbeat about the new system, saying it will make her constituent responsibilities much easier. 

“Currently, if someone asks me about a specific crime committed in my district, I have to find out which particular shift the crime occurred on before I know which commander to go to,” Quan said.  

In addition, she said that under the present shift command structure “we can’t look at crime trends properly because they happen over different shifts” with different commanders, different ways of collecting information and reporting problems, and different methods of attacking the problems. Under the new structure, Quan said, “now I know that a single captain is responsible for my area.”  

Quan added that the new geographical division structure will allow the police department to move from merely responding to 9-1-1 calls to “having more responsibility to look at the sources of the crime problems.” 

But Community Policing Advisory Board Chair Don Link was more cautious, saying that while he supports the structure change, “the devil is in the details. A change in the attitude and the culture of the police department must take place as well.”  

Link said he would be “watching carefully” to see that the structure change actually results in “24-hour protection” for Oakland citizens.  

Former Oakland Police Department tech writer Phil McArdle, who has written a book on the history of the department for the Arcadia Publishing Images of America series, said in an interview this week that OPD operated under a geographic division structure in the early part of the last century, with precincts run by individual captains. McArdle said that corruption among some of the precinct heads forced the city to consolidate into its current citywide command structure during the 1950s. 

Former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown moved briefly towards the re-establishment of police geographic divisions following the recommendations of a consultant’s report, but later abandoned the effort. Council Public Safety Committee Chair Larry Reid said that during the time geographical divisions were in operation “we had some reduction in crime in my district.”  

Reid said that with the return of the system, he was confident that “this city will, in fact, be a safer city.” 

Asked at the press conference who should get credit for the geographic division plan, since it was first introduced by Brown, Dellums said that while he would like to take credit himself, “this has been an evolutionary process. In the last election, the people spoke clearly that they wanted the city to embrace community policing. Along the way, other people wanted to get there, but the beauty of this moment is, we’re here now.” 

 


Berkeley High Beat: Help Needed for BHS Holiday Meal

By Rio Bauce
Friday November 30, 2007

On Dec. 15, hundreds of people around Berkeley will come to eat a holiday meal at Berkeley High School (BHS) from 1-5 p.m. The BHS Associated Student Body (ASB) is calling on Berkeley residents and businesses to help by volunteering or donating money or food.  

“Last year I think we fed between 350 and 400 people,” said Edith Jordan, BHS student activities director. ”There was plenty of food for everyone and I hope that we can continue to feed even more people this year.” 

This year, student government has been working with other organizations to put on the holiday meal, so they can concentrate their resources. At the beginning of this month, ASB began collecting cans from students in their second period class and will award a prize to the class that brings in the most cans. 

The holiday meal has been a tradition at the school for many years, where teenagers help prepare and serve food for anybody who wants to come.  

“I like to see the kids doing stuff,” said Jordan. “Everyone gets really excited when they’re doing stuff that has a meaning.” 

There are three morning shifts, three afternoon shifts, and then a shift for clean-up. People are asked to volunteer for as many two-hour shifts as they like. However, the school is still looking for more volunteers and donations. Anybody can volunteer, not just BHS students. 

People who want to donate should call 644-8990 or bring food to room D148. 

 

 

 

 


You Write the Planet

Friday November 30, 2007

It’s time to submit your essays, poems, stories, artwork and photographs for the Planet’s annual holiday reader contribution issue, which will be published on Dec. 21. Send your submissions, preferably no more than 1,000 words, to holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. on Dec. 16.


Police Blotter

By Rio Bauce
Friday November 30, 2007

Domestic violence 

On Wednesday at 3 a.m., a woman called to report that her spouse had abused her on the 1400 block of 7th street. Berkeley police arrested the 41-year old man.  

 

Battery  

At 5:10 p.m. on Wednesday, a caller reported that two Berkeley High School students were fighting in front of Round Table Pizza on University Avenue. Nobody was arrested.  

 

Robbery 

At 7:58 p.m. on Wednesday, a 17-year-old man was arrested for robbing two other men on the 2000 block of Prince Street. He took a wallet with cash, identification cards, and credit cards.  

 

Drug arrest 

At 11:14 p.m. Wednesday night, Berkeley Police arrested a 31-year-old man under the influence of methamphetamine who had narcotics paraphernalia on him on the 2500 block of Hillegass.  

 

Theft 

On Tuesday shortly after 10 a.m., a woman reported that her cell phone had been stolen on the 2100 block of Dwight Way. No suspects are in custody. 

 

Reported Graffiti 

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, an employee of the skate park on 10th and Harrison streets called in to report that there was graffiti at the park. Nobody has been arrested in connection with the case.  


Fire Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday November 30, 2007

Cat on a hot thin rug 

A Berkeley woman who sought to comfort her kitty by giving it a nice warm bed on a cold night can thank that same cat for saving her from the fire. 

Berkeley firefighters were called to the home in the 1200 block of Peralta Avenue, where they found flames shooting up next to a floor furnace. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth said a woman placed a rug over a floor furnace—which, he said, is never a good idea. The rug caught fire, quickly spreading to the nearby flooring. 

The cat commenced to wailing, awakening its caretaker, who called 9-1-1. The arrival of firefighters kept the damage to about $25,000, said Deputy Chief Orth. 

 

Boarding house blaze  

A $50,000 blaze in a Berkeley boarding house left 40 UC Berkeley students without a home, and university and Red Cross official scrambling for places to house them. 

Firefighters were summoned to 2438 Warring St. at 2:23 p.m. Friday, where they found one of the rooms in flames. “That room didn’t have sprinklers, for reasons that are unclear to us,” said Orth.  

Hall sprinklers kept the blaze confined to the single room. 


Flash: Council Cleans Up Commons for Shoppers

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Once known for tolerance toward the downtrodden, Berkeley turned a corner Tuesday night, advocates for the homeless and mentally ill say, when the City Council voted to give police greater power to cite people lying on city sidewalks. 

 

The business community, however, claimed victory in the eight-month fight to pass Mayor Tom Bates' Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, saying that people with inappropriate street behavior trample on the right of shoppers to enjoy the public commons and for merchants to earn their living. 

 

There was general agreement among homeless advocates, business representatives and the council around the initiatives' provision to further restrict areas where smoking is allowed. 

 

Most those filling the council chambers – largely advocates for the poor and people with psychiatric disorders – also agreed with the section of the initiative that promises future enhanced services to the mentally ill, based on raising new parking meter revenue. 

 

A number of advocates for the homeless, however, said the services – including increasing the number of public toilets and their hours and funding supportive housing units – should have been delivered long ago and without the punitive measures. 

 

It's like an abusive husband speaking to his wife, attorney Osha Neumann told the council: "I'll support you, but you have to accept this abuse." 

 

The vote on the initiative came in three parts: 

 

• A resolution that requires one warning (down from two) and no complaint to enforce a ban on sleeping in public places, with "enforcement to remain a low priority between 10 p.m. and 6 p.m." passed 5-3-1, with Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli, Betty Olds, Gordon Wozniak and Darryl Moore voting in favor, Councilmembers Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson voting to oppose and Councilmember Linda Maio abstaining. 

 

• An ordinance that broadens prohibitions on lying on the sidewalk from a few commercial districts to all commercial districts was approved 6-2-1, with Bates, Moore, Maio, Capitelli, Olds and Wozniak voting in favor, Worthington and Spring opposed and Anderson abstaining. 

 

• A third vote approved greater restrictions on where people can smoke and passed, in concept, the idea that parking meter fees will be raised and that various services such as toilets and housing will be provided. The council will address the specifics of this ordinance later. This vote passed 8-0 with Anderson abstaining. 

 

Ed Roberts Campus 

In other business the council unanimously approved $2 million to fund the Ed Roberts Campus that included $1.5 million previously set aside for a sound wall between Aquatic Park and the freeway. The council promised to search for new funds for the sound wall. This approval along with other funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and BART means the $45 million project can move forward. 

 


Reader Report: Grandmothers Break Oak Grove Siege

By Matthew Taylor, Special to the Planet
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Oak grove tree-sitters had cause for gratitude on Thanksgiving when over 80 Berkeley community members and students, led by the “Berkeley Grandmothers for the Oaks,” defied UC police orders, risked arrest, and successfully delivered bulging bags of food and jugs of water to the arboreal protestors. 

“This is truly the power of the people. We used our group spirit and group strength to do what none of us could have done alone,” said Karen Pickett of the Bay Area Coalition for the Headwaters. “They’ve been arresting people one by one, so this was just perfect that we could come together as this group with grandmothers in the very center of the circle and send sustenance up to the tree-sitters,” added Pickett. 

The communal act of civil disobedience followed an intense week of arrests at the grove. UC police arrested at least eight people in the preceding three days for allegedly providing various forms of support to the tree-sitters, such as delivering food and water or audibly warning tree-sitters of the presence of police. On Wednesday alone, UC police arrested five people including three students, one of whom spent the holiday in Santa Rita Jail. All five were held on $10,000 bail. 

As I arrived at the oak grove at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, I saw elderly women and other community members on the sidewalk pathway in front of the fenced-in grove lugging delectable acorn pies, stuffing, canned food, and hefty five-gallon water jugs. Officer Baird read Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller’s order to the crowd and threatened to arrest them if they sent supplies into the trees. 

Lesley Emmington said she wanted to bring an offering to the tree-sitters even if it meant risking arrest. 

“If you came here at nighttime, this is like a Guantanamo situation. There are strobe lights [pointed at the tree-sitters] ... the young people are being harassed. What’s the problem with me coming and bringing food?” said Emmington. 

After milling about for a few minutes, unsure of how to proceed in the face of police threats, several community members began to spontaneously sing and play the fiddle. The crowd gathered into a circle, hugging each other tightly, and sang Civil Rights Movement-era activist songs modified to fit their cause. 

“Ain’t gonna let no Regents turn us around, turn us around … Gonna save the oak grove trees,” they sang in an ever-strengthening voice, building the confidence of all assembled. 

A few feet from where I stood, environmental advocate Redwood Mary turned to face one of the UC policemen, Officer Moody, and reminded him that in the city of Berkeley, it’s illegal to cut down any of the targeted trees in the grove. She said UC was ignoring the will of Berkeley voters. 

“We’re going to jail because we’re standing for our own laws … We’re not doing civil disobedience, we’re here to enforce the law,” said Redwood Mary. 

Mary then added in a soft, kindly voice, “I’m asking the police, will you allow me to give a pie? What would happen to me if I give food to another human being who’s hungry on Thanksgiving?” 

Officer Moody kept his gaze averted and replied, “You heard the judge’s order.” 

Tree-sitters then dropped a rope into the human circle, and several people attached a bag of food. With at least eight pairs of hands touching the bag, the message was clear: “If you’re going to arrest one of us, you’ll have to arrest all of us.” 

“This food and this water are weapons of dissent,” said Redwood Mary. “This is an act of terrorism,” joked Matthew Dodt of Copwatch. “Providing pie is not a criminal act,” called out Pickett. 

The officers did nothing as tree-sitter Shem pulled the first bag up into the trees, accompanied by cheers from the crowd. After that, it was a free-for-all, as people sent up the rest of the food and water. 

Soon enough, the police officers at the scene visibly relaxed and the tension dissipated. By the end of the gathering, police and community members exchanged wishes of “Happy Thanksgiving.” 

The tree-sitters had another message to remind everyone of the significance of the day. 

“Thanksgiving is an imperialist holiday to celebrate the conquest of America. But Thanksgiving is also a day for sharing food and getting together with friends, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re turning Thanksgiving into a day of resistance to power, and I feel great,” proclaimed tree-sitter Millipede. 

The community members had come at the behest of tree-sitters, who posted flyers across town imploring supporters to “respect Native sovereignty, protect this Native American burial ground, and resist the starvation of protestors.” 

Many people offered gratitude to the police for not interfering. When questioned, the police offered no explanation for their decision not to follow through on their previous threats. 

“Even though there were laws that were violated, we decided to just observe,” said Moody. Security guards videotaped the proceedings. 

“By picking and choosing who they’re going to enforce the judge’s order against, UCPD is committing selective enforcement, which is illegal,” Jake Gelender of Copwatch later told me. 

Asked if she was afraid of being arrested, Redwood Mary responded, “Yes, I was. But sometimes you have to walk through your fear to do the right thing…. I trusted that the Creator would protect us and that we would be successful since we acted in nonviolence and from a place of love and spontaneity.” 

When told that officers might yet arrest her and others at a later date, Redwood Mary said, “That may happen, because the police have been arresting people from the streets when they’re not near the grove. This is how the University is wasting our taxpayer money. This fence cost over $80,000! This double fence with barbed wire is a human rights violation.” 

Following the success of the Thanksgiving food delivery, UC Police introduced a new threat. On Friday night, a UC police officer told me that he would arrest anyone who had a conversation with the tree-sitters, no matter what the topic. The officer disagreed with Copwatch representative Matthew Dodt’s argument that speaking with the tree-sitters was constitutionally protected free speech. The officer stated that speaking to tree-sitters is, according to UC’s lawyers, a violation of Judge Keller’s order. While the order forbids specific actions such as “placing objects” in the trees and “climbing” in the trees, it says nothing about “speaking” to the tree-sitters, nor does it imply that such conversations are forbidden. 

A birthday party to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the tree-sit will be held at the oak grove Sunday, Dec. 2 from noon to 6 p.m. The Berkeley Grandmothers for the Oaks have announced plans to send more food and water to the tree-sitters on Sunday at 2 p.m. They’ve asked community members to bring lots of non-perishable food, mostly vegan, and water jugs with lids and handles. 

 

Matthew Taylor is a UC Berkeley Peace and Conflict Studies student and a founding member of the Free Speech Free Trees Student Coalition. 


Street Behavior, Solar Contract Top Council Agenda

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday November 27, 2007

If the Berkeley City Council gives its approval tonight (Tuesday), the city will award a $50,000 sole source contract to the nonprofit corporation Build It Green to prepare the groundwork for a pilot solar project. 

The council first meets at 6 p.m. in closed session with police union representatives, then meets in open session as the Joint Powers Financing Authority at 6:30 p.m. to address the lease of the property at 711 Harrison St. to Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency.  

At the regular 7 p.m. meeting, councilmembers will consider: new laws prohibiting smoking and lying down in commercial areas; $2 million to fund the Ed Roberts Campus; asking the Planning Commission to investigate giving permit priority to those who want to build “green”; and approving the Downtown Berkeley Business Improvement District budget.  

Public hearings include fee increases for ambulance services and establishing stricter building codes. A report on mistakes made in dredging at Aquatic Park could be taken up by council or simply left for council review on the “information” calendar. 

 

Smart Solar 

The Department of Energy has given Berkeley a $200,000 grant—which the city and other entities must match—to put together a pilot project intended to get a dozen Berkeley homes and businesses to use solar energy. The idea is for the city to assemble contractors, equipment, financing and expertise in the field of solar energy and offer installation cheaper and with more confidence than average homeowners or business owners could do independently. 

Based on the resources and information compiled during the pilot, the project is expected to take off on its own after a couple of years, bringing some 200 new solar energy systems on line in Alameda County annually. 

At tonight’s meeting, the council will consider the project’s initial $50,000 contract—$30,000 from the grant and $20,000 from the city’s general fund—for a sole source contract to Build It Green (BIG) to “convene potential suppliers, contractors, service vendors and permitting agencies….” 

If approved, BIG would also advise the city on products, services and financial instruments and develop technical specifications, procurement strategies and policies.  

BIG is a nonprofit organization located at 1434 University Ave. that merged in 2005 with the Green Resource Center, founded by the city and others in 1999. 

Generally, the city is required have contracts bid competitively. But according to Energy Officer Neal De Snoo, only BIG is qualified to do the job. 

Build It Green “is a natural for this. It is uniquely qualified for this. It’s basically what they do—assemble stakeholders in energy and green building. No other agency does that,” De Snoo told the Planet on Monday. 

According to the contract, the recipient will, among other duties, plan a kick-off event. The contract identifies some of those asked to participate:  

• Sustainable Berkeley, an organization that includes the university (the Haas School of Business and UC Berkeley Capital Projects), “green” consultants and health-care businesses, the Community Energy Services Corporation (Sustainable Berkeley’s fiscal agent), the Ecology Center and other nonprofits, and commercial realtors with environmental credentials.  

• UC Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, in the university’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Energy and Resources Group.  

• UC Berkeley's Haas Business School (also represented through Sustainable Berkeley). 

• PG&E, represented through East Bay Energy Watch (comprised of Berkeley, Oakland and various nonprofits), managed by the Berkeley-based for-profit corporation QuEST, Quantum Energy Services & Technologies, Inc. 

• The California Energy Commission. 

• The Department of Energy’s technical assistance staff. 

Asked if the kick-off will be open to others than named participants, De Snoo said, “It will probably be public.” 

This item appears on the council consent calendar and could be approved without discussion. 

 

Laws to curb inappropriate behavior 

Mayor Tom Bates’ Public Commons for Everyone Initiative (PCEI) is back before the council, where it has been discussed several times.  

This time, the council will be asked to approve three new laws—two adding restrictions to lying on the sidewalk and one further restricting smoking. Councilmembers will also address, in concept, a 25-cent hike in parking meter fees to eventually pay for services aimed at people whose behavior is considered inappropriate in shopping areas. 

The no-lying ordinance expands laws prohibiting lying on the street to all commercial areas. It requires a second reading, then kicks in a month from that time. 

A resolution, according to the city clerk’s web page, expresses council policy or direction to the city manager and generally takes effect upon adoption. It may be changed by a subsequent resolution. Also on the council’s agenda is a new resolution, replacing a prior one, which allows police to cite people lying on the sidewalk with one rather than the present two warnings and drops the need for the citation to be complaint-driven. Enforcement is to be “a low priority” between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

The second ordinance proposes a ban on smoking on specific streets in commercial districts, in parks and near child care and senior centers. 

The initiative is supported by the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Berkeley Association, who say the inappropriate behavior hurts business, but is opposed by advocates for the homeless and mentally ill who say persons with inappropriate behavior need help rather than punishment. 

Charged with soliciting input, PCEI Consultant Lauren Lempert held a Sept. 29 town hall meeting. Most attendees opposed the punitive aspects of the initiative. 

She took the concept to a number of commissions. Three wrote reports for the council. 

The Homeless Commission recommended increased social services, but concludes: “the commission cannot support the enforcement aspects of the initiative without the opportunity to review them in the context of a fully developed plan that includes new housing and social services opportunities.” 

The Peace and Justice Commission report says sufficient laws exist to address problematic behavior. “The Commission believes that approval of the PCEI would have detrimental impacts by further disenfranchising homeless and mentally ill individuals,” the report says. 

And the Community Health Commission report expressed approval of the recommendations to increase public bathroom facilities and other services, but requested the initiative to also address the over-concentration of liquor stores in south and west Berkeley. 

“The commission is concerned about the excessive penalties for behaviors associated with being homeless, to enforce PCEI without first identifying and developing needed resources to assist homeless persons,” the CHC report says. 

The council will be asked to approve, in concept, proposals for services, and funds to be allocated from the $1 million in new meter revenue. Services may include: 

• Bathrooms: $142,000: expand hours of existing bathrooms, add porta-potties, provide stipends for businesses allowing non-customer bathroom use; 

• Housing and support services for 10 to 15 people: $350,000. 

• Centralized intake services to direct homeless persons to available shelter beds: $60,000. 

• Job training and education for youth 18-25: $100,000. 

• Help for homeless persons to access disability, Medi-Cal and food stamp benefits: $78,000. 

• Public seating, trash receptacles: $60,000. 

• Host program: $200,000: hires individuals to be “eyes and ears” on Telegraph Avenue and downtown, “assisting community members and merchants in dealing with low-level offenses,” and assisting tourists. 

• Signs for no-smoking ordinance: $10,000. 

 

Ed Roberts Campus 

Two million dollars is proposed for the Ed Roberts Campus, the nonprofit office/fitness/childcare complex for disabled people slated for part of the east Ashby BART station parking lot; $1.5 million is to be taken from California Department of Transportation funds, originally intended for a sound wall between Aquatic Park and the freeway. Another $500,000 is to be taken from the city’s capital budget. The funding is to match other monies, completing $9 million needed to break ground on the $45 million ERC, proposed 12 years ago.  

The transfer of funds faces opposition from Aquatic Park advocates, who say that money should be reserved for its originally intended purpose. 

 


Downtown Panel Meets Thursday for Final Votes

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Two years of grueling and sometimes acrimonious effort comes to an end Thursday night when the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee holds its final meeting. 

Created in the negotiated settlement agreement between the City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley, DAPAC was given a two-year mandate to craft a new downtown plan that allows the university significant off-campus expansion room in the heart of the city.  

Members are currently reviewing the 107-page, eight-chapter draft of the document they’ll hand off to the Planning Commission when Chair Will Travis pronounces his final “We’re adjourned.” 

Most of the chapters were adopted with little controversy, save for the two that embody one of the city’s deepest fissures—preservation versus high-rises. 

On one side are strong advocates of development, who see more and taller buildings as a solution to the city’s economic, housing, transportation and social services needs and ecological aspirations. 

On the other side are those who say that encouraging more modest development in keeping with the city’s historic character—which they say is one of Berkeley’s strongest attractions—will meet many of those same needs, but in a more environmentally friendly manner. 

 

Broader trends 

The tension carries over into the broader scope of Berkeley politics, in a city where voters in recent years have tended to favor developer arguments and their well-funded political campaigns over the aspirations of the highly vocal advocates of a smaller-scale dream. 

Four years ago, 80 percent of Berkeley voters rejected a radical height limitation initiative that would have lowered maximum heights on new buildings in major commercial districts from the current five-story limit to a maximum of three. Developers funded the opposition, which outspent proponents by more than 10-1. 

After the City Council approved a revised, more-developer-friendly landmarks ordinance last spring, preservationist proponents of the city’s existing ordinance made a few updates in the existing ordinance and submitted it as an initiative, losing by a much narrower margin 57-43 margin against a campaign again well-funded by development interests.  

But the same City Council majority which typically sides with developers in key development battles appointed a downtown planning committee that sided with preservationists in key votes over the downtown skyline. 

Each councilmember appointed two members, with Mayor Tom Bates appointing the chair—an unusual move in a city where committees and commissions typically elect their own chairs. 

It was the mayor’s own appointments which embodied the committee’s subsequent schism, with Chair Travis eloquently arguing the more developer-friendly position, while environmentalist Juliet Lamont spoke for the preservationist consensus. 

While committee members split during discussions over the historic preservation chapter, which incorporated design policies, when it came to a final vote Oct. 17, the preservationist-friendly chapter won by a 20-0-1 vote, with only Planning Commission Chair James Samuels abstaining. 

But the tensions remained, and the gesture of unanimity offered on preservation collapsed in the face of the land use policies that would set the scale and mass of development in the city center for at least the next eight years. 

The division was starkly revealed Nov. 7, when a motion that would have allowed up to two controversial 16-story “point towers” fell on a 10-11 vote. Later in the meeting, members voted 13-7-1 for lower heights.  

They reaffirmed their decision Nov. 12, when members voted 11-1-8 to keep most downtown buildings at 85 feet, while allowing four at 100 feet, four more at 120 and two high-rise hotels which could rise 100 feet higher. 

The towers, offered in a set of alternative proposals prepared by the planning staff, triggered strong opposition and an outpouring of public comments, most rejecting the idea of adding a thicket of new buildings to downtown as tall as the Wells Fargo and Great Western (né Power Bar) buildings. 

 

What next? 

Thursday night’s meeting—which begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center at 1901 Hearst Ave.—will feature public comments, votes on any holes and inconsistencies in the chapters and a final chance for members to comment on their two-year journey and the resulting plan. 

The final session will be the committee’s 48th meeting. Many faces have changed since DAPAC first convened on Nov. 21, 2005, and during its two-year course, members have served on a range of subcommittees tasked with drafting individual chapters and policies. 

The longest-serving subcommittee, staffed by four members each from DAPAC and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, met 15 times between August 2005 and last month to draft the Historic Preservation & Urban Design chapter. 

The last committee formed drafted the Land Use chapter, the result of a decision by members who rejected Travis’ designation of Victoria Eisen as chair. Subcommittee members themselves picked Rob Wrenn. 

In the end, the subcommittee left it up to DAPAC itself to provide height limitations after members failed to achieve the super-majority vote Wrenn had sought.  

From here, the plan will move on to city staff for wordsmithing and then to the Planning Commission, which has had four representatives on DAPAC in the persons of Chair Samuels and commissioners Gene Poschman, Helen Burke and Patti Dacey—the latter three on the DAPAC majority but often in the minority on the commission. 

Then the plan moves forward to the City Council, though the university has reserved the right to challenge provisions it doesn’t like. 

The council must adopt the plan and certify its accompanying environmental impact report by May 25, 2009, under terms of agreement ending the city’s lawsuit against the university, unless City Manager Phil Kamlarz and Chancellor Robert Birgeneau agree to a continuance. 

Any dispute would be resolved in court, but pending a final judicial decision, the settlement allows the university to move forward with development plans incorporated in the Long Range Development Plan which sparked the city’s legal action. 

Delay would also allow the university to cut its possible $1.2 million in annual payments to the city by $15,000 for every month of delay. The payments from gown to town are intended to compensate the city for the university’s impacts on city infrastructure and services.


Berkeley Marina Bird Rescue Center Closes as Cleanup Continues

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday November 27, 2007

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network closed down its bird rescue center at the Berkeley Marina Monday and moved operations to the International Bird Rescue and Research Center in Cordelia. 

Hundreds of oiled birds have been collected at the rescue center since Nov. 9—two days after the Cosco Busan crashed into the Bay Bridge and spilled 58,000 tons of bunker fuel into the bay—and then driven to Cordelia for treatment. 

“We are finding less and less oiled and dead birds everyday,” Mark Ragatz, shoreline unit manager for the East Bay Regional Park District, told the Planet Monday. “We haven’t found any today. From now on, the sick birds will be taken to Cordelia directly.” 

Ragatz added that the East Bay regional parks were still closed to water traffic. 

“We are working with the county environmental health department to reopen less affected areas such as Crown Beach in Alameda and Point Pinole in Richmond,” he said. “We will be testing and sampling the water to see if it is safe. Several areas are still being cleaned up. HazMat professionals have been deployed from Miller/Knox in the south through Eastshore State Park, Point Isabel and Middle Harbor. There is still oil on the rocky shoreline but it looks much better.” 

The professionals deployed by The O’Brien’s Group, the private recovery firm hired by Cosco Busan owner Regal Stone Ltd. to respond to the oil spill, were still wiping the rocks along the Berkeley Marina free of oil Monday.  

The city had stopped deploying volunteers and handed over clean-up efforts to the professionals last week. 

“We are glad to have the contractors there,” said Berkeley city spokesperson Mary Kay Clunies-Ross. “It’s definitely less of a crisis but we are still being careful about health and safety. Right now we are holding tight to see what kind of clean-up happens.” 

Jeff Topic, site supervisor for the HazMat crew contracted by O’Brien’s, said his men had been working around the clock to address the problem. 

“We didn’t stop even on Thanksgiving Day,” he said. “There’s no holiday for us. We keep going every day from 7 a.m. as long as there is light and it’s safe to work. Things are better than before but it’s up to the Coast Guard to come and tell us when to stop. We’ll probably be here for a few more days.” 

The oil is being collected in lined dumpsters before being disposed of at a hazardous waste site, Topic said. 

The city is still under an emergency order and people are being asked to stay 50 feet away from the shoreline as directed by the proclamation issued by City Manager Phil Kamlarz. 

Although boat traffic is being allowed at the Marina, boat owners have been asked not to wash their boats. 

A plan to safely decontaminate boats and marinas is being developed by Unified Command. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has prohibited fishing for human consumption until Dec. 1. 

The Berkeley Aquatic Park lagoon was opened to rowing, canoeing and kayaking Wednesday. 

“The tide tubes have been closed for almost two weeks now, and that seems to have kept the lagoon fairly clean compared to the bay,” Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna said in a statement. “We’re glad to see Aquatic Park being used again.”


International Baccalaureate Site Visit Positive, Says BHS

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Extensive interviews, discussions and reviews marked the two-day visit to Berkeley High’s International High School by the International Baccalaureate Organization as part of an application to accredit the program within the institution’s International High School last week. 

School officials and faculty members described the site visit as positive. 

“It went extremely well,” said International High School English teacher Jared Baird. “I was really excited to talk to the team ... They turned out to be very friendly.” 

As a smaller learning community program within the high school, the International High School focuses on international studies. The four-year interdisciplinary curriculum—which began with the ninth-grade in 2006—focuses on global culture, history, artistic expression, and political and economic systems. It now consists of two years, ninth and tenth grade.  

If it is accepted as a member of the International Baccalaureate Organization, the school plans to adopt the organization’s Middle Years Program and Diploma Programme, expanding into grades 11 and 12. Students would transition from the Middle Years Program into the comprehensive Diploma Program after the 10th grade. 

Students will be able either to earn certificates in any of twelve areas of study or to pursue the full IB Diploma with examinations in six subjects. 

All courses from Berkeley International High school will meet the California Content Standards and UC/CSU entrance requirements. 

Based out of Geneva, Switzerland, the International Baccalaureate Organization has programs across 2,145 schools in 125 countries, including seven Bay Area schools. 

The three-member team from New York, Bend, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., said they could not comment about their visit. 

“We are hoping to find out about the accreditation in March,” Baird said. “Right now there are 240 students per class at the freshman and sophomore pre-IB levels. After we get accredited, we hope to get 1,000 students enrolled in International Baccalaureate.” 

Although the program has met with encouragement from many in the school community, some have concerns. 

“It’s great because it’s part of an effort at Berkeley High to break the school down into knowable communities where the students know the teachers and the teachers know the students,” said Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers.  

“But as a union leader I worry about sustainability,” she said. “There’s a lot of energy and excitement about the program at first, but the question we need to be asking is how can we sustain the program. If the idea is to articulate the grades and evaluate the program, then it will take a lot of extra time for teachers as well as professional development. If Berkeley High is successful in getting accredited, that’s going to be a significant responsibility for the district and the school board.” 

School board president John Selawsky said that the team had asked questions about curriculum and staff development. 

“I see a lot of positives,” he said. “It’s a great match for Berkeley High. The school has an international cosmopolitan atmosphere which is true of Berkeley as well.”  

Proposed first by Berkeley High’s head of African-American Studies department Robert McKnight and former chair of the history department Doug Powers in 2001, the International Baccalaureate program was reintroduced by principal Jim Slemp as an alternative and partner with Academic Choice in 2005. 

After being approved by the Berkeley Board of Education in 2006, it was included as a part of the school’s lottery system. 

“It wasn’t our first choice since we didn’t know about it when we moved from Connecticut to Berkeley last year but it would have been,” said Angela Price, Berkeley High college councilor and parent of an International High School sophomore. 

“I have been in college preparation for 20 years and read a zillion essays and looked at transcripts from all over the world,” she said. “International Baccalaureate students have always impressed me. They are well rounded and are sensitive to other cultures as well as their own. I don’t want my child to live in a bubble.” 

Baird was busy distributing copies of a short story by South African writer Nadine Gordimer to his Global Literature and Composition class Tuesday. 

“The ninth-grade literature is tied to their history class,” he said. “Right now they are learning about Sub-Saharan Africa. The curriculum is based on best practices and the latest research. In addition to being really challenging, it’s amazingly accessible and built on student choice. It develops skills for post secondary work.” 

Miya Sommers, a sophomore at the International High School, said that the program had been her first choice. 

“I am half-Japanese and I wanted to get a global understanding of the world,” she said while waiting to be interviewed. “You don’t just listen to lectures or take notes like in Academic Choice but get an in-depth thinking of everything. I am learning about England and Africa at the same time.” 

Berkeley High School teachers are sent to attend workshops in Texas, Los Angeles and Georgia for training in the International Baccalaureate program. 

“The curriculum is modeled after the English system,” said Berkeley High science department co-head Aaron Glimme, who will teach chemistry to International Baccalaureate students. “A lot of work is graded by the teachers and then sent to the organization. The IB standard for chemistry is different from AP level courses. IB courses are broader and have more organic chemistry whereas AP is more focused and doesn’t cover as many topics. As a result teachers have to adapt to a different set of material.” 

Glimme, who was trained to teach the International Baccalaureate program in New Mexico, said that the site team had been pleased with the science department. 

 

 


Centennial Exhibit Tracks History of Berkeley Parks

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Tuesday November 27, 2007

The newcomer visiting the Berkeley Marina for the first time, the long-time local sunbathing on the lawn at Willard Park, the dog walker at Ohlone Park, the sunset viewer at Indian Rock, the softball player at San Pablo, the romantic in the Rose Garden, or the new mother watching the children at Virginia-McGee tot lot—all may be excused in the midst of their enjoyment, for perhaps imagining that such places have been around as long as Berkeley itself. 

In fact, Berkeley’s park and recreation spaces are the complex physical expression of an uneven, decades-long, tapestry of civic and neighborhood effort, planning, cooperation and struggle. That story is set forth, starting this week, in a history exhibit. 

“The Legacy of Berkeley Parks: A Century of Planning and Making” opens this Thursday, Nov. 29, at the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, at 1275 Walnut St. The free event will start at 7 p.m. and includes a talk about Berkeley parks and the exhibit by Professor Louise Mozingo, one of the organizers. Thereafter the Art Center is open Wednesday through Sunday, 12-5 p.m. 

The exhibit was conceived and assembled by Mozingo and Marcia McNally, her colleague in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at the University of California, working with one of their graduate students, Sadie Mitchell (né Graham). 

“We were contacted by members of the Parks and Recreation Commission in 2004, asking for some assistance in thinking about new ideas for Berkeley parks,” says McNally, also a long-time West Berkeley resident. 

After initial research, they realized that the city was on the cusp of meaningful park anniversaries, particularly the centennial of the 1907 acquisition of the 12-acre San Pablo Park site from developer Mason-McDuffie. 

“Let’s think of it in broader terms of where we’ve been, and also look at the future,” became the new motivation, McNally says. She and Mozingo enlisted Mitchell who had approached them seeking a research theme. 

As park history research began, McNally and Mozingo also used Berkeley park issues, particularly the future of the Santa Fe right-of-way, as the focus of studios and classes they taught at Cal. 

After considering a park fair or centennial banners, they finally settled on planning the current exhibit. After it closes at the Berkeley Arts Center, it will move to the City’s Addison Street windows downtown for a display starting in April 2008. Then, hopefully, a third venue in West Berkeley or the waterfront area will exhibit it. 

The exhibit, McNally says, isn’t meant to simply revisit past events and accomplishments, but challenge Berkeley to think more comprehensively about its park future. 

“We haven’t had a real park plan for nearly 50 years,” she notes. “Let’s think about the whole city.” 

One of the early impediments to a Berkeley park system was the fact that many residents viewed the State University grounds—the current UC Berkeley campus—as a public park that they didn’t have to pay for. 

But, as the exhibit text notes, “when Berkeley grew by 30 percent after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the prospect of a city without open space loomed.” 

The next year the San Pablo Park site was acquired. In 1909 a municipal Playground Commission was organized. In 1914, initial improvements to San Pablo Park were finished, and the city also acquired the beginnings of Live Oak Park. 

Codornices Park acquisition came in 1915, along with the first of Berkeley’s comprehensive park planning documents, the “Report on the City Plan for the Municipalities of Oakland and Berkeley” by planner Werner Hegemann. 

Hegemann, an exponent of the City Beautiful Movement, laid out in lavish written, graphic, and visual detail a vision for better residential neighborhoods and business districts, transportation networks, and open spaces in the central East Bay. 

He proposed an elaborate bay shore park (albeit on landfill, and separated from mainland Berkeley by a dredged ship channel and industrial zone) and park corridors following the natural creek channels from hills to bay. 

“The Hegemann plan was completely spatially related to the geography of the place,” McNally says, praising “the remarkable ecological sinuousness in it.” 

Berkeley didn’t immediately realize any of those visions, but did work hard at more modest park development for the next decade, adding the Grove playground and James Kenney Park in the flatlands and several small hill parks, and populating them with elaborate public programs. 

“If I could live in any era of park making in Berkeley, it would be the late ’20s and early ’30s, McNally says. Despite the arrival of the Depression, “there was so much exuberance, so much commitment to making happy families, happy children.” 

There were thousands of schoolchildren in Berkeley then, outnumbering the older student population at the university. Berkeley had robust recreation programs, playgrounds, and activities and nearly two million recorded user visits annually to its parks programs by 1939. 

“The Depression was catastrophic, but the New Deal was a boon to Berkeley’s parks,” the exhibit text notes. “After years of modest municipal allocations, federal money provided for physical improvements and new recreation staff to organize an amazing range of activities—everything from team sports to pet shows.” 

Federal New Deal money and labor assisted with the creation of three of Berkeley’s most memorable open spaces—Aquatic Park, what would become the Berkeley Yacht Harbor and the Berkeley Rose Garden. 

The post-war era saw a focus on neighborhood parks, including the creation of the Virginia-McGee Totland in 1948. A Long Range Recreation Plan in 1945 projected playground development linked to the numbers of children in neighborhoods. 

In the 1950s and ’60s there were several park projects and a revised Park and Recreation Plan—Berkeley’s last—completed in 1957. The city undertook house moving and demolition and street closures to create neighborhood parks such as Willard. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” brought federal dollars to Berkeley for urban renewal, and eight mini-parks and tot-lots were developed in the same era that impromptu and unofficial People’s Park emerged. 

In 1974, Berkeley voters approved Measure Y, which provided $3 million for new parks. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the planning and creation of Cedar Rose Park, Strawberry Creek Park, Ohlone Park on land that had been cleared to build BART through north-central Berkeley, and the purchase of the old Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way. 

The era was marked by considerable neighborhood and community group participation in park planning, a new ecological focus in open space planning, and the germination of one national trend, creek-daylighting. 

Berkeley’s park history also has several instances where opportunities slipped away. In the early 20th century a failed bond election cost Berkeley the opportunity to buy what became the Thousand Oaks residential tract. 

A few years later Werner Hegemann proposed his linear “Midway Plaisance” park stretching through much of Albany and Berkeley. It never came to pass. 

As the 1930s began, another election failed to generate the supermajority necessary to buy Wildcat Canyon from the water district, although a later regional effort in which many Berkeleyans participated brought that land into the East Bay Municipal Park District. 

“People could never get over the fact that Berkeley was so stingy in the early years and missed opportunities to acquire land,” McNally says, but a considerable amount of public open space has actually been preserved through later efforts. However, “if you have the luxury of looking back 100 years, Berkeley has achieved a lot of things,” in park development.  

If jurisdictional labels are set aside, she notes, the open space system within and surrounding Berkeley, including not only the city’s parks but the Eastshore State Park, regional parks in the hills, public school properties, and the university’s undeveloped slopes and canyons, comes close to approximating those early visions of a network of expansive open spaces seaming and embracing the city. 

Park history of course is also, fundafundamentally, the history of people who work to create and sustain the parks. The exhibit brings attention to some of those who have been obscured by time, particularly Charles W. Davis, the city’s superintendent of recreation in the pre-World War II era. 

Often, “the staff is forgotten,” McNally says, although they are largely responsible for the development, operation, and success of parks in the long periods between high-profile plans. 

She also notes, among others, the contributions of current assistant city manager and former parks director Lisa Caronna, creek advocate and longtime Park Commission member Carole Schemmerling, former parks director Bill Montgomery, city and regional planning professor Fran Violich—“such a symbol of park advocacy and play space”—and “the whole group of landscape architects who worked for the city through Measure Y.” 

What of the future? Although much recent attention has been given to physically large park projects, including the East Shore State Park and playing fields for youth sports, McNally believes that opportunities lie with small-scale open space efforts and connectivity in the interstices of the built-up city. 

“We have a lot on our minds as Berkeleyans—public health, pedestrian planning, the quest for a food policy, and the moment in time of a 100-year anniversary of parks,” McNally says. “Surely these things can work together. Why not a plan for the city outside the state’s requirements of the general plan that envisions these things together, and maybe picks up additional agendas of path wandering, community gardens, creek daylighting, downtown design?” 

She cites as examples of recent successes the complex of small open spaces in North Berkeley, including the Karl Linn Garden and Berkeley Ecohouse, that “now read as a park,” and the “completely brilliant infill park idea” of neighborhood activists, including designer Mike Lamb, that resulted in the tiny 0.2 acre Halcyon Commons in south central Berkeley. 

She also admires the small paved area at the west end of recently renovated Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Park that functions equally well as a periodic festival venue and an informal, but heavily used, skateboard area. 

Elsewhere, McNally says, “Louise and I are completely charmed by the traffic roundabouts” that have recently been built throughout Berkeley, each contributing a few hundred square feet of planted space to calm and soften street intersections. 

And future park-like spaces may be equally untraditional. A survey in part of northwest Berkeley found, McNally says, quite a few residents who didn’t necessarily want park space “for the traditional nuclear family or recreation” but would like to have urban “open spaces to hang out, but where you don’t have to pay money to sit in a chair and drink coffee.” 

 

Photograph: Courtesy Berkeley Historical Society 

Future baseball great Billy Martin (in cap) playing in Berkeley’s James Kenney Park in 1935. 


Berkeley City College Announces Selection Of New President

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Betty Inclan has been appointed the new president of Berkeley City College, the Peralta Community College District announced last week. 

Inclan, the associate superintendent and vice president of academic affairs at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, will take office Jan. 1. She is the permanent successor to Judy Walters, who abruptly resigned last August after guiding the school from a collection of downtown Berkeley rental spaces under the name of Vista College to its current newly built Center Street campus. 

Dr. Wise Allen has since served as Walters’ interim replacement. 

“Dr. Inclan brings a wealth of knowledge about California’s community college system, and its student population, to Berkeley City College,” Peralta College District Chancellor Harris said in a prepared statement. “Her experience in academic and program administration, fundraising, teaching, and higher education issues, are tremendous assets for BCC and the Peralta Community College District.” 

Inclan, a Cuban native who was raised in Florida, has worked in the educational field for 27 years, including stints at Kent State, Miami Dade Community College, and Modesto Junior College. 


Port Commission Considers New Bay Bridge Billboard Deal

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday November 27, 2007

A proposed deal between the Port of Oakland and CBS Outdoor to put a second 20-by-60-foot billboard near the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza has sparked opposition from at least one local environmental group, but the Oakland city councilmember who opposed the first billboard says she lacks the power to prevent it. 

“My position on this issue has been consistent,” Councilmember Jane Brunner said by telephone this week. “I’m not thrilled about people seeing a barrage of billboards along I-80 as they enter the City of Oakland from the Bay Bridge. I believe that all billboards put up on city property should go through a careful review by City Council, and that includes a review of the financial agreements. But I lost that vote when it came up before City Council, and I haven’t yet been able to convince a majority of councilmembers of my position.” 

If approved by the port’s board of commissioners at its Dec. 4 meeting, the amended agreement will allow CBS to build the second billboard some 500 feet before the first on the right-hand side of I-80 leaving the toll plaza. Payment to the port will be the same as for the first billboard: $157,500 per year. 

Clear Channel also owns a billboard in the vicinity. 

The Port Commission’s Dec. 4 meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the port headquarters near the ferry terminal on the far western end of Jack London Square. 

CBS’s original toll plaza billboard raised considerable controversy when it was installed earlier this year because it included an electronic display that some observers said interfered with night driving. The permit application for the second billboard does include an electronic display, but instead CBS has proposed “a traditional double-sided backlit structure.” 

The original billboard agreement also included a side deal between CBS and then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown for a $6 million contribution from the billboard company to Brown’s heavily subsidized Oakland School for the Arts Charter school. 

Consideration of the amended Port-CBS agreement was originally scheduled for the Port Commission’s Nov. 6 meeting, but was pulled at the request of Port Executive Director Omar Benjamin. 

Waterfront Action Executive Director Sandy Threlfall spoke briefly in opposition to the proposed second CBS toll plaza billboard at the commission meeting, even after the item was pulled, and later expanded on her remarks by telephone. 

“I don’t think billboards belong on the city’s waterfront,” Threlfall said. “In addition, the concern I have is that the East Bay Regional Park District is planning a park in the area that will be overlooked by the new billboard. How many parks do you know of that have billboards over them?” 

Threlfall said that the port’s wetlands properties are ceded to the port by the State of California in trust, “and should be used for wetlands trust purposes only.” Saying that billboards do not fit that use, Threlfall said, “Every time they use this land for non-trust purposes, the public loses access to a treasured public asset.” 

Brunner, chair of the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee, originally tried to assert city control over the placement of billboards on port property in 2005, but her proposal for City Council approval of port billboards lost in her own committee that summer on a 1-3 vote (Councilmembers Henry Chang, Larry Reid, and Ignacio De La Fuente voting against Brunner’s proposal). 

In September 2005 Brunner tried again, winning council approval for council talks with the port “towards a negotiated agreement on regulating outdoor advertising in the port area.”  

However, no memorandum of understanding between the port and the city was ever finalized and signed, and the port retained control over the placement of billboards on port property. 


University Seeks Bids for Kerr Campus, Li Ka-Shing Building

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday November 27, 2007

UC Berkeley’s building boom continues to move forward, with calls for bids issued to three companies for the renovation of seven buildings housing 800 students at Clark Kerr Campus. 

The university’s contractor in a second major project, the Li Ka-Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Services, is also seeking subcontractors on that project—which will follow demolition of Earl Warren Jr. Hall, which now occupies the site.  

The university plans a $130 million retrofit for Clark Kerr Campus, a 500-acre Spanish Colonial Revival complex in the Berkeley hills which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a city landmark. 

Three construction firms have prequalified to submit bids by the Dec. 5 deadline: Plant Construction Company and Nibbi Brothers Associates, both of San Francisco, and Sundt Construction of Tucson. All three firms have experience with large historic properties. 

Sundt built the original housing, schools and hospital for Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II and relocated a historic London bridge to the Arizona desert, while Plant has restored and renovated the Fairmont Hotel and the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Nibbi has done retrofits and repairs to San Francisco’s Pier One and the Spreckels Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park. 

The university presented preliminary plans to the city in May, and the project under bid will see the full renovation of seven of the 20 buildings on the campus, plus additional repairs and renovations to the facility’s steam plant and auditorium building. 

University officials have assured the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission that all work will conform to the complex’s historic character, save for some alterations of pathways and railings needed to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Those latter alterations are being conducted as a separate project from the housing renovation. Seismic retrofits of some of the campus’s dozen other buildings have already been completed. 

According to the prospectus seeking bids, work will be conducted in two phases, each totaling 97,000 square feet and each expected to take 10 to 11 months. 

Bids will be opened on the afternoon of Dec. 5. 

McCarthy Building Cos. of San Francisco, which won the contract for the Li Ka-Shing building last August, is now seeking subcontractors to bid on construction of that project, which the university has estimated will eventually cost $117 million. 

The firm is seeking companies which can do everything including provide utilities, hang drywall, install elevators and slap on the final coat of paint on the structure, which will rise to more than 100 feet near the crescent at the western edge of the main campus at Oxford Street. 

Deadline for bids is Dec. 28. 

Demolition of Earl Warren Jr. Hall removes from the campus map the name of the Supreme Court Chief Justice whose tenure saw a revolution in the nation’s laws governing race and civil liberties. 

Warren, a California native who had served as Alameda County District Attorney and California Attorney General before his elevation to the high court by President Dwight Eisenhower, presided over the court from 1953 to 1969. 

His name is still memorialized at the UC Berkeley Law School in the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity, which was created two years ago to conduct policy research on issues of law, race, ethnicity and justice. 

Information on the bids for these and other university projects may be found at www.cp.berkeley.edu/AdsForBids.html 

 

 


Planning Commission Faces Light Agenda

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Berkeley Planning Commissioners will face a light agenda when they meet Wednesday night, with the only action item a decision to set a public hearing. 

The hearing to be scheduled will focus on a proposed amendment to the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance, which sets requirements for housing developers to build or fund units for low-income tenants as part of their larger projects. 

Jordan Harrison, the city planning staffer who serves as commission secretary, said the ordinance is the first in a series of proposed changes to the ordinance the commission will take up in coming months. 

The measure under consideration would exempt mixed-use projects in residential neighborhoods with four or fewer living units from any obligation to provide low-income units. 

Another proposal that will come to the commission is presently before the city’s Housing Advisory Commission, and will set fees for high-end condominium developers who want to provide payments in lieu of including affordable housing in their projects. 

The funds would go towards building affordable housing projects elsewhere. 

Commissioners will also continue their discussions aimed at formalizing new ordinances to set city standards for density bonuses awarded housing projects in commercial districts. 

State law requires an additional size bonus for developers who build affordable units as part of their projects—the subject of considerable tension in debates over projects like the “Trader Joe’s” apartments-over-commercial project planned for the northwest corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and University Avenue. 

Critics have charged that current city policy allows developers to build structures that overpower the residential neighborhoods behind commercial thoroughfares, while developers argue that the size increases are needed to create economically viable projects. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way—a block from the site of the proposed Trader Joe’s project.  


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Pie in the Sky for the Holiday Table

By Becky O’Malley
Friday November 30, 2007

If you want a good laugh, type “sex on the sidewalk” into Google News. This will give you the opportunity to witness, firsthand, the birth of an urban legend. And where has it been born? Why, in our beloved San Francisco Chronicle, of course. Carolyn Jones reported on Tuesday that: “The new plan cracks down on yelling, littering, camping, drunkenness, smoking, urinating and sex on sidewalks and in parks.” I know she was at the City Council meeting—so was I, and I saw her. But where did she get that sentence? Never mind, it’s been picked up all over the map as the key component of whatever the City Council thinks it passed on Tuesday night.  

Fox News headline: Berkeley, Calif., Cracks Down on Sex on Sidewalks, in Parks. And from the online right-wing publication The American Thinker: No More Sidewalk Sex in Berkeley? 

Yet another chapter in the Chronicle’s on-going contribution to the Bezerkeley legend... It almost seems like their reporters use those 10-minute breaks for the caption-writer to sneak out and puff on a joint.  

And sex on the sidewalk is merely the most eye-catching part of that sentence. Almost all the rest of it is fictitious, too. In actual fact, all the council acted on was new penalties and regulations concerning where people may smoke or lie down. A councilmember who deserves protection as a confidential source quipped privately that you can still have sex on the sidewalk, you just have to do it standing up from now on.  

In fact, even though I’ve been in Berkeley off and on since 1959, I’ve never seen any sidewalk sex, though I did notice still-legal out-in-the-open sex in broad daylight in a parked car on Parker Street not too long ago. Of course, I averted my eyes immediately. 

You can find a reality-based account of what happened at the meeting elsewhere in this issue. If you don’t believe the Daily Planet, you can also find most of the facts about what happened online in the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, or even the Daily Cal.  

The central delusion about what the council did on Tuesday was one which the councilmembers shared. Several of them, card-carrying bleeding-hearts that they are, seemed to believe that what they were passing was an even-handed combination of sticks and carrots. The sticks were real, all right, but the carrots were conceptual, virtual, faux—or as Wobbly Joe Hill used to sing, Pie in the Sky Bye and Bye. 

Joe wrote a parody of a hymn which was used by sanctimonious preachers trying to reform the street people of his day, just about a hundred years ago:  

 

Long-haired preachers come out every night, 

Try to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right; 

But when asked how ‘bout something to eat 

They will answer with voices so sweet: 

 

(Chorus:) 

You will eat, bye and bye, 

In that glorious land above the sky; 

Work and pray, live on hay, 

You’ll get pie in the sky when you die. 

 

These days the preachers are more likely to be short-haired, and the religious people are more likely to be on the side of the poor, but the pie in the sky tastes about the same. 

All of the remedies for the plight of the crazy and reckless folks who live on the streets which the well-intentioned consultant suggested were not enacted on Tuesday, despite reports in other media, and will probably never be. The mechanism for funding them—raising parking meter fees—won’t even be considered until the Jan. 15 council meeting, and specific budget items will follow even later, “bye and bye.”  

In the meantime, the police have been given virtual carte blanche for rousting sleeping people whenever and wherever that they want—a Merry Christmas to you, sir, and God Bless You Every One. No added shelter beds, no new toilets, no more blankets just yet, sorry about that. But you’ll be sure to get citations for sleeping in the wrong place, and if you don’t pay the fine you’ll go to jail and/or lose your disability check. 

A few councilmembers came close to figuring out that they were participating in a shell game, though ultimately they couldn’t find the hidden pea. Max Anderson pointed out that $142,000 for public toilets could and should have already been available from the general fund, that enough toilets shouldn’t have to wait for a fee increase. Betty Olds echoed the urgent need for public toilets, but made no move to have them provided promptly. Linda Maio made a valiant attempt to highlight the irrationality in the resolution which stepped up enforcement of state laws against sleeping in public, but was defeated by double-talk from Acting City Attorney Zach Cowan and of course the mayor. Spring and Worthington as usual were intelligent and articulate, but they might as well have been talking to fence posts.  

A particularly unattractive part of the program was an orchestrated parade of ex-addicts singing that hallelujah, they’d been saved. One of them, a white guy, read a long litany of past sins, with the moral of the story that he’d finally reformed when he stopped claiming his civil rights. That particular bone stuck in the throat of African-American councilmember Anderson and others of us who are proud veterans of the civil rights struggles of the past 40 years. To be fair, the testifier probably didn’t write his own speech. None of this had any connection with what was actually on the agenda. 

An elderly woman started in on a tale of how her parents used to sit on a bench on Shattuck in the ’50s, but couldn’t get to her point because there was a one-minute sound-byte time limit for comments. It seemed like she was asking for more penalties for bad behavior, though it wasn’t quite clear. As she left the mic, she said that she’d only come because she’d been asked to—by an assistant city manager. Since when has it been the job of city staff to round up allies to speak in the public comment period? 

When the consultant finished her lovely upbeat report on what might help solve the identified problems, the mayor jumped in, as he frequently does, to restate what she’d said in his own inimitable style. No vegetarian he, he promised to “put meat on the bones.” Phony baloney and conceptual carrots would be a better description of what’s likely to be the filling of the PCEI pie-in-the-sky. 

In the past few years, all sorts of goodies have been put on the public table and then snatched away. The sound wall at Aquatic Park and the warm pool are two examples that have come up in the last month alone. Just to keep everyone honest, the Planet will be publishing the list of services promised on the Public Commons menu on a periodic basis, and we’ll be keeping score.  

Smart money would bet that the parking fee raise will happen, all right, but most of the public benefits it’s supposed to fund will never materialize. The money will be spent for other things, and then perhaps the manager will ask for new taxes or bonds to fund the social services: a classic bait-and-switch transaction. 

 


Editorial: Substituting Private Profit for Public Policy

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday November 27, 2007

What’s nice about book reviews is that, well done, they turn a monologue into a dialogue. It takes a certain amount of chutzpah for an author to reveal his thought processes and his conclusions on the printed page, and even more to submit to the judgment of his peers about whether or not he got it right. At our house we’ve been planning for a while now to form opinions about two new books by two Bobs, Robert Reich, now a Berkeley snowbird who teaches at UC’s Goldman School of Public Policy in the months when Cambridge is unpleasant, and Robert Kuttner, who’s still mostly an Easterner. They’re co-founders of The American Prospect, a worthy if sometimes dull journal of opinion populated mostly by center-left thinkers with a Boston background who have a lingering affection for the Democratic Party in some of its manifestations.  

The American Prospect (which now likes to call itself TAP to seem trendy) put the two new books head to head in a recent issue. Bob R. (Supercapitalism) and Bob K. (The Squandering of America) made a valiant effort to turn the seemingly minor differences in their analyses of what’s wrong with America into the political economists’ version of a Battle of the Bands, with predictable results. Both of us, the publisher and I, read it, or more precisely tried to read it and gave up in the middle because we (well, OK, I) kept falling asleep. Neither of us is a great fan of economics, often called the dismal science. He’s too much of a scientist to be persuaded by the often flimsy math many economists use to support their theories, though he does love Brad DeLong’s web site. I’m much more interested in social and cultural questions than in money.  

Someone gave him the Reich book for his birthday. Both of us really do intend to read it, but we haven’t gotten around to it yet. Then we heard the author on a talk show last week, and tried to figure out what the central premise was. But the questions asked were not probing enough to uncover the theme, beyond what the title and subtitle—Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life—suggest.  

Just when we were thinking that we’d really have to get around to reading the book, and to reading Bob Kuttner’s book to boot, the New York Review of Books came in the mail, right in time for the long weekend. In a review titled “The Wrecking Ball of Innovation,” Tony Judt skillfully engages Professor Reich in a pointed dialogue about the relationship between capitalism and democracy, and particularly about the reliance on economic growth which has come to characterize much of what is sometimes called “progressive” thinking in the last 30 years. He notes that “...the relationship betwen capitalism and democracy (or capitalism and political freedom) should not be taken for granted: see China, Russia, and perhaps even Singapore today. Efficiency, growth, and profit may not always be a precondition or even a consequence of democracy so much as a substitute for it.”  

He characterizes Reich’s central thesis as the conflict between a “civic” identity and an “economic” one. He quotes what he calls a Reich sound bite: “As citizens [we] are sincerely concerned about global warming: as consumers and investors [we] are actively turning up the heat.” And he questions it: “... the real reason Robert Reich’s ‘citizen’ might be confused about global warming is not because he is also a part-time investor and consumer. It is because global warming is both a consequence of economic growth and a contributor to it. In which case, if ‘growth’ is good and global warming bad, how is one to choose? Is growth a self-evident good? Whether contemporary wealth creation and efficiency-induced productivity growth actually deliver the benefits they proclaim—opportunity, upward mobility, happiness, well-being, affluence, security—is perhaps more of an open question than we are disposed to acknowledge. What if growth increased social resentments rather than alleviating them? We should consider the noneconomic implications of public policy choices.” 

Judt’s review is a seminal piece, much too long and nuanced to summarize here or to characterize in short quotes. It questions, among other things, the trend to privatize everything that used to be public and the real consequences of the welfare reform which was one of the proudest achievements of the Clinton administration in which Reich served. Anyone who cares about public policy can and should read it. (It can be found online at www.nybooks.com/articles/20853.) 

And what does it offer for our many readers who are more interested in local public policy than in the impact of global capitalism? More than one might think. Some of Judt’s premises and conclusions shed a lot of light on current local controversies.  

The meeting of the Downtown Plan committee which discussed what size building should be allowed in downtown Berkeley featured a vocal minority contending that the question should be decided by outside expert economists, who could prove conclusively how tall buildings needed to be to provide a rate of return to developers which would spill over some part of their profits for public goods like green spaces. Whatever happened to the idea that providing open space for citizens was the responsibility of the whole body politic—that citizens deserved more than a few crumbs from the private table? (Attorney and DAPAC member Steve Weissman effectively demolished the idea of leaving everything to the experts by relating his experience with duelling economists in his day job at the Public Utilities Commission.) 

And what about Berkeley’s Orwellian-named Public Commons for Everyone Initiative? Local philosopher Osha Neumann has always likened the mayor’s repeated tries to pass such ordinances to the Poor Laws of 19th Century England. Tony Judt similarly sees the Poor Laws philosophy underneath Clintonian welfare reform, which he says “makes an individual’s claim upon the collectivity...contingent on good conduct.”  

Economic efficiency is the justification Berkeley’s mayor and several councilmembers have given for cracking down on the homeless: to make downtown more pleasant for shoppers. Here’s Judt on that goal: “Abundance (as Daniel Bell once observed) may be the American substitute for socialism; but as shared social objectives go, shopping remains something of an underachievement.” 

And the threat of global climate change seems to have popped up locally as just another profit opportunity. Many who should know better are salivating over the opportunities for “green” building projects without remembering that re-use is the greenest alternative. There’s a reason that Tony Judt uses the metaphor of “the wrecking ball of capitalist innovation.” There’s more private profit in new buildings, even though there’s more public benefit in re-using old ones. Or consider the cargo cult theory of public transit: If we build a lot of condos, surely someone will send buses to serve them.  

There’s much more to say here, but not much more space to say it in. Read both Bobs’ books or at least read the review. 

If you want to argue about some of these ideas, Bob Kuttner will be at Cody’s Bookstore at 7 tonight (Tuesday) to talk about his book, and he’s a funny man in person. Or if you believe that all political economy is local, you can join the Brother Can You Spare a Dime Chorus at old City Hall at 6:30, preceding the meeting where councilmembers will verbalize their rationalization for voting with the mayor to criminalize sleeping on the sidewalk. Either of these shows would be educational. 

 


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday November 30, 2007

WORK IT OUT TOGETHER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last night I watched the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board’s hearing on allowing a bio-fuel installation on the corner of Ashby and Sacramento. It’s presently held by a car-wash operator who is behind on his rent. He is black. The hearing was heated and became a racial clash, black vs. green white women who wish to run the fuel station. Some black folks screamed and yelled about the possibility of racism, etc. It seems to me that the obvious “Berkeley” solution should be for both operations to join forces: bio-fuel and car-wash together. It would be mutually beneficial to both. You know, the popular song: “Black and white to-geth-er-er.” Seems like of all the cities in America, we should be able to work this conflict out “together.” 

Robert Blau 

 

• 

‘ETHNIC CLEANSING’ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In Jean Damu’s article about the eviction of Kandy’s Kar Wash, he uses the term “ethnic cleansing” to refer to the anticipated displacement of a black business by a business owned by white women. I cringe at the inappropriate use of this term, which is a euphemism for genocide. A Wikipedia listing reads as follows:  

“Ethnic cleansing refers to various policies or practices aimed at the displacement of an ethnic group from a particular territory in order to create a supposedly ethnically ‘pure’ society. The term entered English and international usage in the early 1990s to describe certain events in the former Yugoslavia. Its typical usage was developed in the Balkans, to be a less objectionable code-word meaning genocide,...ethnic cleansing has become improperly used to describe a situation wherein poorer ethnic groups are being displaced economically, by other, generally more affluent ethnic groups.” 

It is not genocidal when a business is evicted from its location, sad as that may be for those who have patronized it. Nor is every misfortune which comes upon a black business necessarily “anti-black.”  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

 

• 

BERKELEY PARKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the Nov. 27 article by Steven Finacom about parks in Berkeley, a correction is in order: While the author states: “In 1974, Berkeley voters approved Measure Y, which provided $3 million for new parks. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the planning and creation of Cedar Rose Park, Strawberry Creek Park, Ohlone Park on land that had been cleared to build BART through north-central Berkeley, and the purchase of the old Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way,” Ohlone Park was actually created in the summer of 1969, in the spirit of People’s Park. Both represent the beginning of the modern communitarian ecology movement, which the late Karl Linn recognized in our brief but intense friendship and conversations when he asked me to devise a plan for gardener safety in the parks along the BART path in North Berkeley after a spate of robberies in the gardens. 

If Karl were alive today we would split the MacArthur Grant he expected to receive, and we would have continued to join forces as the male and female sides of the druidic park building impulse. 

Wendy Schlesinger 

 

• 

PUBLIC COMMONS  

CONTROVERSY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I can’t help but notice the behavior of many Cal students and football fans during parties on game days. Individuals at these parties typically drink heavily in public; assemble in groups that block the sidewalks; leave piles of food wrappers, cans, and bottles everywhere along the streets and sidewalks near the stadium; allow underage drinking; frequently urinate in public; and generally act in a very noisy and sometimes belligerent manner. All of this occurs with nary a peep from our law enforcement personnel—who duly observe much of the activity. 

Coincidentally, many of these behaviors are the very same ones condemned in Mayor Bates’ “Public Commons for Everyone” initiative! So, the solution is apparent: Dress the street people on Telegraph Avenue and downtown in proper Cal regalia, and let them have at it as they wish. For added merriment, Oski can even teach them a few Cal drinking songs. There you have it—a major social problem solved for the price of a few T-shirts and caps. 

Doug Buckwald 

 

• 

COMMONS FOR NAZIS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What is disturbing about the Commons for Nazis Initiative is that it constitutes one more step in the slow but relentless march toward fascism. What has been set in place is a mechanism whereby the fascists in our midst can get whatever they want from government whenever they want it. With a convincing act of pretense at compassion by Linda Maio, who abstained, the steamroller of local fascism just flattened a few hundred more lives. But it is not the damage to those lives that is most disconcerting; it is the acceptance of fascism by many citizens of Berkeley that is doing inestimable damage to everyone. 

Peter J. Mutnick 

 

• 

OVERDEVELOPING EL CAPITAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I recently took a day trip to Yosemite, and was upset to see contrails over El Capitan. In previous years the public was able to enjoy national parks that were completely pristine, but now worsening pollution threatens their natural beauty. At the rate we are going future generations will remember the pollution of national parks more than their awe-inspiring beauty. That is why it is absolutely essential that Sen. Feinstein votes to fully fund California’s National Parks. 

Jon Peaco 

 

• 

GMO LANGUAGE SUBSTITUTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Richard Brenneman’s two-part report gets at the heart of the matter in exposing the fact that genetic modifications would play a role in producing biofuels. The media has played down the fact that, in this context, synthetic biology is the same as genetic engineering. Language substitution to minimize public opposition was used during the 2004 California stem cell proposition 71 campaign when the term somatic cell nuclear transfer was used instead of embryo cloning to deflect criticism that human embryo cloning would employ the same techniques. 

Whether the food or husk part of the crop is genetically modified is irrelevant in terms of damage to the environment from gene-flow associated with large scale GM-crop plantations, for example, or in terms of creating new patentable agri-fuel crop germplasm. By any terminology, the socio-economic impact to the already marginalized poor is undeniable and cannot be masked. 

Nazreen Kadir 

Institute Scholar in Science and Public Policy 

Western Institute for Social Research 

Oakland  

• 

LEAVE THE TREES ALONE  

— ONE YEAR LATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Day by day now, the assault on nature takes a devastating effect on Cal football. Have you noticed we can’t seem to gain any ground since the UC police started enforcing the criminal UC Regents edict to cut the oaks down? Let’s not play down the Oppenheimer curse, where shortly after the atom was split by the good Doctor, Mother Earth said “Whoa, that’s enough winning for a while.” 

The oil spill in the bay, the Save the Oaks tree sitters, and BP’s secret contracts all beckon a looming face-off with Mother Earth. Come Dec. 2, it will mark one year since the Berkeley tree-sitters have stymied UC Goliath into thinking twice before slashing and burning their way to a new “state of the art” athletic training facility. Perhaps this will go down in Berkeley history as how the courageous, yet simple act of tree-sitting could make the UC bomb makers pause in mid earth raping mode. Bravo to bravery! 

Where was BP when the oil spill in the bay took place? Why weren’t they showing by example what pitching in together to heal the earth is all about? No , instead we should have chanted “BP or Be Free” the minute they crossed into the Berkeley Free State. Could it be they are just another profit seeking parasite seeking to drain a public university of it’s sense of rage? Or just jaded in their own history of oil spills as in Alaska? 

BP = Bad People, BP = Beautiful Profit. 

Has anyone taken notice that there are thousands of acres of parkland behind Memorial Stadium where potential athletes can run, hike, and sweat their way to a trophy season? No matter how much money he has, and it’s up to $3 million, or a million per loss and counting, one can hear Napoleon Tedford bellowing into the wind about what it takes to “compete,” and the sacrifices we peasants and nature lovers must endure. Gimme a break! 

Stoney Burke 

 

• 

MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is ironic when we hear that the United States is “using its influence” to bring about a peaceful resolution to the Israel- Palestine conflict, and an end to the occupation of the Palestinian Territories. 

The reality is that the occupation would end immediately if the United States stopped its massive funding of the occupation. 

This talk of the United States being an “honest broker” is so cynical. It’s not a broker. It’s the major financier of the occupation enterprise. 

Carolyna Marks 

Founding Director,  

World Wall for Peace  

 

• 

IMPEACH CHENEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is my greatest fear that Kucinich’s resolution HR-333 will be buried and lost in the House Judiciary committee, when it is the only symbol and gesture of hope for this country getting back on the path to freedom, justice and the American way. The United States is purportedly a nation of laws which no man or entity is above. How nauseating is it that our vice president and president disregard the nation’s will, silence our elected officials, and do not hold themselves accountable to the Constitution. Both of them lie and twist the truth constantly and against reason: The Downing Street memos reveal that the president fixed the facts to match the policy which lead us into a five-year illegal occupation of Iraq; the FISA courts have been a blunder and it would seem that 80,000 American citizens are being spied on without warrants—many, one presumes, holding office a la Watergate; and an N.O.C. CIA agent’s identity has been revealed, apparently as political payback. This last act is considered treason. Seventy-five percent of the American populous believe this vice president has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. What will it take for this Congress to begin to act on behalf of the people’s will? 

Tara Daly 

Oakland 

 

• 

THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT EUGENE’S BRT SYSTEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with great interest Mr. Buchwald’s kind description of Lane Transit Districts (LTD) EmX bus rapid transit system. The system has been very successful attracting a large number of new riders: since opening in January, ridership has increased by approximately 90 percent over the service the EmX replaced. 

I wanted to provide some comments on the EmX service that may be helpful to the discussion. 

The EmX route is four miles long and consists of approximately 63 percent exclusive right of way. The LTD Board of Directors goal was and still is for 100 percent exclusive right of way. In the development of the EmX project certain compromises were made as a result of limited right of way, property impacts and trees. To ensure that the project was built, the LTD Board of Directors reluctantly agreed to run in mixed in the general purpose lanes along certain sections of the corridor. The largest section of mixed traffic operation occurs in the Glenwood area, which is about to undergo a complete urban renewal. As part of the vision for the area exclusive EmX lanes are proposed. 

The loss of on-street parking was a particular issue during the development of the EmX project. Where possible, alternative parking arrangements were sought, however the project resulted in approximately 70 parking stalls being eliminated. 

Currently no fare is charged on the EmX service. The reasons for this decision were that a small number of passengers currently pay cash, and the limited extent of the EmX route requires that most passengers transfer to a regular bus to complete their trip: thus paying a fare on the regular bus. LTD plans to introduce fares on the EmX service on opening of the second route in 2010. 

The introduction of the fare will likely result in a dip in ridership: a recent survey estimated that between 10 and 15 percent of new riders would not continue to ride once a fare is imposed. 

I trust that the above will help in your communities dialog about bus rapid transit. While l know very little about AC Transits plans to develop a bus rapid transit system l would encourage the community to be open to ways of providing as much exclusive facility as possible, as only this will ensure that the bus rapid transit is reliable and rapid well into the future. 

Graham Carey 

BRT Project Engineer 

Lane Transit District 

Eugene, Oregon 

 

• 

FOURTH AMENDMENT  

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Bush administration and Homeland Security Department couldn’t convince Americans that using cable employees to spy in our homes was OK so now the White House is using firefighters to act as Big Brother, to spy and inform on Americans, with pilot programs in cities throughout the country. The reasoning behind the latest move is that unlike police officers, firefighters can enter hundreds of thousands of homes legally and with no warrant. Since when have Americans become the terrorists and let’s hope that firefighters don’t harbor any prejudices. 

Doesn’t the Fourth Amendment prohibit the illegal and unlawful and unwarranted searchers of residences? 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

 

Life is Much Better in Jail 

 

A humble submission inspired by the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, with seasonal greetings. 

 

I was a junkie I lived on the street 

I had no money and nothing to eat 

A kindly policeman came by one fine day 

And changed my perspective on living that way 

 

(Chorus:) 

In jail! In jail! 

Don’t bother paying my bail! 

Give me a blanket and three squares a day 

Life is much better in jail! 

 

I had no direction when I was a kid 

I loved to be free didn’t care what I did 

My civil rights were just weighing me down 

But now getting busted has turned me around 

 

(Chorus) 

 

My civil liberties I have to say 

Just clouded my judgment and got in my way 

Pull up your bootstraps and reach for the stars 

Life is much better by far behind bars 

 

(Chorus) 

 

I was a treesitter up in the grove 

They told me to leave but I just wouldn’t move 

I had no respect for the cops til I saw 

They could take me to jail for no reason at all 

 

(Chorus) 

 

By Carol Denney


Commentary: Whom Do We Blame?

By Alan Miller
Friday November 30, 2007

In last Friday’s issue of Berkeley Daily Planet, Jonathan Stevens asks one of the most discussed questions today: “Whom do we blame....” for the failures in public education? This is easy to answer: let’s start with the citizens of California, who passed Proposition 13 and began the process of starving what was once considered the premier public education system in the country. That initiative quickly gutted the state budget and made it unlikely that, without an appeal, California could ever add the per pupil funding expenditures necessary to achieve the results citizens say they desire. California has the highest class sizes in the nation and moves between 40th and 48th in per pupil expenditures (depending upon which numbers one uses). Thank God for Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation, and one of the few to be as consistently stingy as we are with our students. Nina Simone said it all in her classic song! And thanks to Berkeley citizens for Measure A and all of the bond measures which have supplemented the district budget.  

Stevens announces that more money for teachers and teaching won’t “solve the problem of teachers fleeing the field.” I urge him to talk to teachers five years into the profession who are aware that their dreams of owning a home will go unfulfilled. Every teacher (and probably many parents) knows a former colleague who left for greener pastures; many of us know several. There’s the beloved former teacher who told me many times, “I could never do this if (my husband) didn’t earn so much.” It’s one thing to make financial sacrifices for five years; it’s quite another to accept an entire career of such sacrifices. A teacher at the beginning of her career has a much different perspective than one leaving the profession. As a result, those credential classes with new teachers Stevens speaks of are more like 12-step meetings or sessions for returning war veterans; a bunker mentality dominates. Fortunately I earned my credential in a “working teacher” program which meant that my classmates were mostly veteran teachers from outside the state. Conversations with experienced teachers may feature the same themes, but will function differently and affect the participants differently, too! What frustrates a new teacher may inspire a veteran teacher, and vice versa. As we begin to experience the present teacher shortage, the State of California must find money to ensure both competitive salaries and excellent working conditions. All teachers have a brother or sister or parent whose jaw drops when we describe these facets of our work experience. 

Stevens prefers that any budget enhancements go to improved working conditions—ironically, also a cost item—that will “guarantee teachers the opportunity to practice their trade in peace and safety.” After some dozen years serving on the BFT negotiations team, I have heard district negotiators repeatedly refer to working conditions as cost items. (That’s why schools are exempted from Cal/OSHA provisions; the state is unwilling to commit the funds necessary to ensure high quality working conditions). Over the years, I have noted many improvements teachers and the district desire delayed because of their cost. Due to Measure A, our district doesn’t have to make those kind of hard decisions, but before the initial maintenance measure was enacted I, as the BFT safety officer, spent many days checking classrooms throughout the district for adequate heat and lighting, spot-checking for mold, and ensuring that each classroom phone could access the office. So: Mr. Stevens wants a more intimate environment in which students can be inculcated with the virtues of plurality and social justice? In other words, Mr. Stevens wants more classrooms? Well, it’s gonna cost real dollars to do so. How else to explain the district’s failure to implement the state’s ninth grade class reduction? Not enough money and not enough space. I share Stevens’ concern about improving working conditions; at BHS, for the last several years, more than half of the teachers have shared classrooms. That means that teachers lack the opportunity to make each classroom a viable and productive learning space. That’s why the South of Bancroft Committee is so committed to building additional classrooms and why all of the new structures on the campus are so important; keeping the Old Gym means keeping teachers in substandard classrooms and ensuring that we will never have enough. The new structures at BHS, along with the increased voluntarism on site and new leadership are responsible for a better learning environment and, I believe, happier students and teachers. Stevens has it half right: we deserve it all, and only improved salaries and working conditions will draw attract the teachers we need to fill California’s classrooms—on the scale we will need, there aren’t enough of the martyrs and nuns to fill those burgeoning vacancies. Talk to a veteran teacher: there are fewer martyrs in that generation. 

After 20 years in Bay Area classrooms, I have seen the same fights that he has seen. For starters, most of the fights I have witnessed at Berkeley High School, where he worked for a year, and where I have toiled for some 17 years, are not racially charged. They are—no solace to me, an African-American male—intra-racial fights; that is, they are fights within groups, not interracial, between members of different groups. Additionally, they are usually single gender; few teens seek out members of the opposite sex to fight, honoring that old code: If you’re a boy, you should never hit a girl! Fortunately, few of these fights repeat; our dean and counselors usually bring the parties together, counsel the students and negotiate a truce, inform the parents, send the parties home for a few days and move on to the next fight.... whenever that occurs. Mr. Stevens lamentably succumbs to the same spirit of hyperbolic sensationalism he rues. I don’t see fights on campus for days or weeks at a time... though I have come to expect them close to the Thanksgiving and the December holidays. How’s that for irony? Furthermore, the number of fights on campus has shrunken markedly over the years. 

Finally, I have learned too that what happens in my classroom may not be happening in the classroom next door. This is also true of districts. As someone who has worked in West Contra Costa, Oakland Unified and Berkeley, I know how dangerous it is to compare districts and schools. Each district, each school, each classroom has its own ethos. Stevens makes a big mistake in comparing such different environments; they cannot be conflated and compared easily. Two of them remain in receivership, under the control of a state administrator. You can’t come to Berkeley High School without noticing that there is something good happening every day somewhere on campus: guest speakers, student presentations, art displays, computer programming, sporting events or exercise, field trips. You can hardly turn your head without hearing the words “achievement gap” and seeing myriad attempts to address it. Much of what makes Berkeley different is the money that has been made available to its teachers through the BHSDG, In Dulce Jubilo, and BSEP. Don’t go to You Tube for horror and success stories about education in your local district: volunteer, join a committee, talk to children, call a teacher. You might learn something. You might like what you hear.  

 

Alan E. Miller, a former Berkeley Federation of Teachers vice president, teaches English at Berkeley High School.  


Commentary: Schools Are Better Now

By Al Durrette
Friday November 30, 2007

In “The State of Education” in the Nov. 23 Daily Planet, teacher Jonathan Stephens decries the “diminishing intellectual returns” in today’s classrooms, but fails to appreciate the deepened understanding of other cultures and behaviors, and the internalization of the idea of justice, that students achieve in today’s multi-cultural equal-opportunity classrooms. 

I was unfortunately educated in the segregated South. There we all learned to read and write and do math, but most of us would happily give up a little of those skills if we could have had the richer experience of diversity and justice. 

How pallid were our occasional schoolyard fights in that era, compared to the spirited conflicts that Mr. Stephens has “witnessed nearly every day,” and which he misinterprets as “racially charged violence.” There is no reason to think that students hurling racial epithets at each other as they fight are necessarily being “racial”—name calling is only natural when adolescent feelings boil over into physical conflict. 

Mr. Stephens writes, “Until we create a classroom culture that can guarantee teachers will have the opportunity to practice their trade in peace and safety, the problems facing us will only get worse.” 

Surely Mr. Stephens would not want to return to the safe and peaceful mono-cultural classrooms of the segregated South? The conditions he has witnessed are just “growing pains” that may take a century or two to work themselves out as we move closer to the dream we share with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of a colorblind rainbow society. 


Commentary: Talking Points for the Superintendent Selection Process

By Michael Miller
Friday November 30, 2007

The following text is the United In Action “Talking Points for Superintendent Selection Process,” submitted to the Leadership Associates (“Leadership”) consulting group. Leadership is the agency contracted by the BUSD to find our next superintendent. 

 

United in Action believes that the stakes are far too high to simply hire a competent administrator. While we need the experience and skill set that will continue to maintain and enhance our infrastructure, we cannot continue to sacrifice the success and well-being of our students. The data are irrefutable. We are failing to educate our black and brown students at record levels, throughout the entire district.  

The 2007 CA STAR test results show that 77 percent of our second-grade African-American and Latino students are less than proficient in English-Language Arts, while more than 80 percent of our eleventh-grade African-American and Latino students are less than proficient. We must have leadership that will make student achievement the number one priority.  

We have outlined the qualities that we believe are absolutely essential for this position. We feel duty-bound to inform those in our community who may not be aware of the critical need for education reform. 

 

About the selection process: 

1. Berkeley is a unique and diverse community with many political, racial, ethnic, social, and economic divisions. The selection process lacks a community envisioning process to develop a shared set of community values and priorities regarding the new superintendent. In fact, the community meetings scheduled with the search team reflect and perpetuate these divisions by grouping only similar organizations together, rather than grouping diverse organizations together to facilitate consensus amongst the community. How will the consultants adequately represent the community vision when there has been no shared process in identifying our values and priorities? 

2. The process is too fast to address the goals and desires of our community. Similar selection processes in the past have not met our needs and this process is not likely to meet our needs either, unless there is more time allotted to developing a shared set of community values and priorities.  

3. The process does not enable the community to get to know the candidates in any real sense to differentiate whether they are good at selling themselves or good at solving our serious educational problems. The process is closed, the community role is marginalized, and the community's ability to qualify candidates to ensure we find a superintendent that we can support and who will support the change we feel our districts needs is undervalued by the process. 

 

Important Qualities for our next Superintendent: 

Our most recent superintendents have brought important skills for the improvement and success of our school district. Jack McLaughlin brought his skills in facilities construction at a time when many of our schools were being rebuilt, while Michelle Lawrence brought her skills in fiscal management at a time when our district was in financial difficulty. We now need a superintendent with the passion, skills, and experience to address issues of race and class and bring our community together to ensure the academic success of all of our students. This superintendent should: 

1. Hold student achievement as their highest priority. 

2. Have a proven track record of addressing issues of race, class, and equity in a large urban community similar to Berkeley. 

3. Understand institutional barriers to achieving educational equity. 

4. Be a community builder, with a demonstrated ability to build and lead a collaborative partnership with parents, teachers, staff, and the greater community. 

5. Have the ability and desire to enter into intentional and respectful relationships with city government, institutions of higher education (UC Berkeley and community colleges), community resources, and state and federal resources. 

6. Have experience in preschool through adult education, and understand and value the importance of continuing and alternative education (B-Tech, Independent Studies, the Adult School). 

7. Have proven commitment and innovation in recruiting and retaining teachers of color, and development of a professional development plan with the focus of helping boost the achievement of low-performing students and engaging all students.  

8. Have demonstrated experience in implementing a data collection system to systematically monitor student performance, and to inform targeted intervention efforts at the classroom, school, district levels. 

9. Be sensitive to the needs of special needs students, and have demonstrated ability in meeting these needs. 

 

Michael Miller is a coordinator for Parents of Children of African Descent. 

 


Commentary: Real Solutions Needed for Greenhouse Gases

By James Singmaster
Friday November 30, 2007

Richard Brenneman’s comment in Nov. 20 issue of the Planet continues to point to the deficiencies of the BP grant and agrofuel programs, but the real deficiency has gotten little mention until Dr. J. Overpeck’s statement on the last IPCC report in the San Francisco Chronicle on Nov. 18. In the front page article, Dr. Overpeck, director of the University of Arizona, Institute for the Study of Planet Earth and member of the IPCC, is cited as saying “It’s going to get warmer” from industrial emissions remaining in the atmosphere for decades to centuries without making mention of new emissions that will be adding to raise the level of greenhouse gases (GHGs) mainly carbon dioxide. The real issue that has to be addressed to get some control of global warming is finding a means to remove some of the 35 percent overload of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution. In the same article, Dr. S. Schneider of Stanford cited that overload in the article as being the main cause of warming seen in the last 40-50 years. Almost all proposals for curbing of emissions from vehicles and power plants, which still allows some adding to that 35 percent, and for growing agrofuels, which allow a lot of non-energy generating recycling of that gas, do nothing to remove any of that 35 percent. 

Again I call attention to my commentaries on June 12 and Oct. 26, in which the pyrolysis process is detailed to be applied to our wasted agrofuel crop dumped in our massive organic waste disposal program. That costs megabucks in maintaining the dumps or in composting, where we allow carbon dioxide to be reemitted needlessly after nature had so kindly trapped it for us in biochemicals. The frenzied call for agrofuels totally ignores how much land and water will be getting usurped from food production, which will be avoided by using our organic wastes as agrofuels. The pyrolysis process as detailed can be set up for none of that gas to be given off needlessly as all the carbon goes to charcoal for burial or organic chemicals useful for making drug and plastics. 

The benefits that can be realized using this process are enormous for both the economy and the environment. We would be removing some carbon dioxide from ever getting reemitted via biodegradation. We could get some energy free of needless emissions of GHGs, especially with the development of splitting water to get hydrogen, which was recently reported by Max Plank Inst. scientists. We would kick our oil addiction retaining megabucks sent to foreign countries having leaders with little friendliness to America. With the heating used in pyrolysis, we would destroy the hazardous germs and toxics in our massive waste disposal mess while recovering megabucks spent in maintaining dumps to prevent the escape of those hazards. And in time we would eliminate any new environmental messes of coal mining as well as the ever increasing losses of lives in coal mining. 

Along with pyrolysis, we should greatly expand our use of windmills to collect some energy from the brisker winds being caused by the excess of released heat energy from our fossil fuelishness, and that released energy stays trapped on the globe by the GHGs. The last IPCC report and the UN-SEG report from Sigma Xi out last spring warn of greater wind velocity causing damage and soil erosion, so why not reap the wind for electricity generation. Several groups are now calling for a ban on new coal fired power plants and should call for windmills to generate much of our future electricity. 

Unfortunately, those reports only talk of curbing emissions that will do nothing to reduce the overloads of heat energy and carbon dioxide already causing all the problems described in the reports with the authors’ warnings of the problems getting worse. The pyrolysis process as I have somewhat detailed will give us a means to start removing those overloads albeit slowly. That is how we have to get control of the real global warming cause. The pyrolysis process is the alternative for sustainability and for getting control of the real global warming cause that the emission curbing and agrofuels proposals can not achieve. 

 

Fremont resident James Singmaster is a retired environmental toxicologist.  


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday November 27, 2007

ARE WORDS OF PRAISE  

PERMITTED IN BERKELEY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Words of praise for the City of Berkeley seldom come trippingly to the tongue. Here they are, and the topic is nothing less than...trash. The city has gifted everyone with their very own personal-size trash bin for recycling kitchen garbage. The bin’s bright green color is just right—cheery, a bit cheeky, and evocative of Balanchine’s Emeralds ballet. This cook/dishwasher’s companion is not too big, not too small, but just right. The plastic is hardy, and comes up gleaming after its bath. And to top it all off, the city is good enough to pick up its contents and compost them every week. Is this place heaven, or wot? 

Rita Maran 

 

• 

PUBLIC COMMONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the “Public Commons for Everyone Initiative” to be discussed by the City Council this week: Contrary to the apparent assumptions of many opponents, not everyone who hangs out on the street is homeless. Case in point: A few years ago, one of the loiterers was my 15-year-old niece. She found it more fun to hang out on Telegraph and get high than to stay in her home town and go to high school. Thanks in large part to Berkeley’s laissez-faire attitude, she got pregnant by some loser she met on the Ave, and now she’s a dropout and single mother. It seems clear to me that enforcing minimal standards for civil behavior on the street would reduce the extent to which Berkeley enables that sort of self-destructive behavior. I don’t see how doing so would harm those who are out there due to substance abuse problems or mental illness. 

Robert Lauriston 

• 

UC’S WARPED PRIORITIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For the cost of the Guantanamo-style fence and lights UC wrapped all around the west of Memorial Stadium we could have sent a dozen kids or more, with fully paid tuition, to UC. Add to this the costs for police overtime, lawyers’ fees and the like, and we are talking easily another dozen students or so. Let’s not forget, all this is done on our dime, yet what are we paying for? “To protect our police officers” as one of UC’s mouthpieces proclaims? There’s a cancer spreading through UC’s system, all the way down from the president. 

Jurgen Aust 

 

• 

BP SEEKS GLOBAL HARVEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Richard Brenneman’s Nov. 20 article contains a careless error. Soybeans may be grown for food or fuel, but when the oil is to be used for fuel that fuel is not generally ethanol—it’s biodiesel. And soy meal—the residue left after oil is separated—is, itself, a valuable commodity. 

Mr. Brenneman is clear what he is against, but does your readers no great service by failing to state clearly what he favors. Does he favor BP and other oil companies getting their advice from sources less competent that the scientists and thinkers at UCB? Or does he favor doing nothing about greenhouse gas emissions that most responsible scientists seem to agree have something to do with climate change? How does he suggest addressing fuel and environmental emissions issues, especially when an increasing fraction of these fuels and emissions are coming from sources outside the United States and used by people outside the United States? 

It is easy to rail against change. And not all change is for the better. But the long sweep of human history should be enough to convince even Mr. Brenneman that change is inevitable. The important questions have to do with what changes we want to occur, how we guide them, and how we monitor and regulate them. The ethics and bioethics of fuel supply and environmental protection are too important to be left to politicians or oil company executives—or irresponsible journalists. 

Charles G. Scouten 

Senior Associate, The Fusfeld Group 

Warrenville, IL 

 

• 

TIME TO TAKE UCB TO TASK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have lived in Berkeley now for 26 years, the past 13 of which have been in District 8. I am one of Gordon Wozniak’s constituents, and I am a strong proponent of the concerted efforts to block the construction of the so-called high performance sports center at Memorial Stadium. Such a construction is ill-advised at that location, and opposed by the vast majority of Berkeley’s citizens. I’m sure Mr. Wozniak realizes this. Also, I would like to remind him of the illegality of destroying California living oaks, such as the ones UC Berkeley proposes to destroy. Can Councilmember Wozniak explain UC’s appalling, unmitigated arrogance? Can he explain their disregard and disrespect for ordinary Berkeley residents? The barbed-wire topped fence they have erected around the grove is an alarming and grotesque eyesore. Their treatment of the activists is becoming increasingly inhumane. Now, according to the Daily Planet, they propose to cut large limbs from the oak trees, thereby causing further blight, damage, mayhem and abuse. My sense of outrage is beyond measure. UC’s reckless ambitions and greed are destroying the quality of life for ordinary Berkeley citizens who deserve a livable and attractive environment. Enough is enough! As one of his constituents, I implore Mr. Wozniak and his fellow city officials to get off their knees and begin standing up to the university. They must demand that UC Berkeley cease it’s arrogant and thuggish conduct, and begin respecting the wishes of the city and it’s good people who act as their hosts. 

Kevin Moore 

 

• 

IWW SUPPORTS WORKERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a member of the local branch of the IWW and have been involved in organizing with the union for several years now. My response is to Christine Staples Nov. 16 “commentary” on the Metro Lighting situation. I am not an official spokesperson for the union, nor am I involved at Metro, though I have stopped by the picket line several times. 

I wish to make two points here: 1) Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act guarantees workers the right to engage in “concerted activity” for “mutual aid” with co-workers and to bargain with an employer over “Hours, wages, terms and conditions of labor.” It does not say that in order to do this a worker must sign a card, petition for an election, negotiate a contract or even join a union. Exercising these legal rights nearly all employees at Metro have taken out membership in the IWW and worked with the union to present their issues and concerns to the owners. But unfortunately the owners have refused to recognize this or sit down and discuss workplace issues. Metro owners are currently facing over a dozen Unfair Labor Practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board federal agency. 

2) On the subject of improving the lives of working people, the IWW has a number of current and recent successes to speak of in the Berkeley and local community. At our two organized recycling operations in Berkeley many workers are immigrants with families. What they have achieved in negotiations includes higher wages, improved health care and better working conditions. Also the IWW has attempted to bargain a contract with Shattuck Cinemas, a part of Landmark Theater Co. There is no agreement yet, but the workers have received four raises over the course of a year and a half with the union. The starting wage was $7.25, is now $8.75 and will go up to $9.25 on Jan. 1. The Shattuck workers have demanded time-and-a-half on Thanksgiving and just this week the company agreed to grant this to all Landmark workers at 60 or so cinemas nationwide. 

The workers at Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics on Shattuck Avenue are also members of the IWW. Among other improvements, the workers won the removal of black mold throughout the store. Management met with us, agreed and had the mold removed. My point here is that, yes, the IWW may have lofty goals but there should be no mistake the IWW has supported workers locally to consistently win immediate improved conditions and wages. Staples has a right to her opinion. But I will refrain from discussing the issues she raises specifically regarding Metro, as I believe the workers/organizers are much better suited to do so if they choose. Ultimately the IWW should be given a chance to respond to Staples on the “commentary” pages of the Daily Planet. 

Bruce Valde 

Oakland 

 

• 

BERKELEY HIGH WARM POOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing to express my sincere hope that Berkeley will not lose its Warm Pool until there is a new warm pool officially underway. I am not a senior nor am I permanently disabled; however, I suffered a serious leg injury last year and have not been able to exercise very much until now. (I have been unable to use regular pools because my injured leg is extra-sensitive to the cold.) 

The Berkeley Warm Pool has solved that problem for me, and on my first day there I could see that it is an important resource for many people. The pool was busy: of the adult swimmers, two of us were wheelchair owners, six of us were not. Then there were more than a few children, trying out their water wings and practicing kicking in the water.  

Of course many people enjoy swimming in colder water. But some of us can’t, or prefer not to. 

People form communities so as to more efficiently provide for their emotional well-being, physical health and safety. Children, seniors and other potentially vulnerable individuals deserve to feel safe, comfortable and provided for. This includes having meaningful—not just theoretical—access to recreation. We depend on elected officials to ensure this.  

I thank the City Council very much for their actions on this issue to date. I hope the council continues to act until a new, fully-funded warm pool is built. And remember that Berkeley, with its progressive policies, is a role model for other communities across the state. We have enough retail, market-rate housing, sports facilities and restaurants in the East Bay. Can the City Council use its power to ensure that those who need it have their one warm pool? 

Heather Holbrooks-Kuratek  

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is the  

correct version of a letter that ran in a different form in the Nov. 20 edition. 

 

• 

HE CAN’T HEAR THEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Master Bates’ latest public display of moral fecal matter regarding his refusal to let disabled and senior users of the warm pool speak early in the City Council agenda is yet another disclosure of what the man’s all about.  

His manic emphasis on the city’s green proposals reveals still another pattern as well. Democratic Party (read DLC) strategy for the 2008 elections is to brand themselves as environmental leaders and throw a few eco-bones to the faithful who, apparently, can’t think of where else to vote.  

The trade-off for the eco-bones will be Democratic Party support for reconfiguring the Middle East continuing under various spins; growing income disparities won’t bring forth legislative calls for progressive tax legislation; forget about single-payer health care; the herding of minority youth into the prison system will continue. Indeed, our very own Loni Hancock voted for the last round of prison construction funding in September. But we’ll all have solar panels.  

The solutions are out there. One tiny example: Berkeley could have installed portable toilets for the homeless and others who need them years ago. But with a smiley green face, the Democrat political class will do what they can to maintain the status quo. To deeply challenge it would mean losing their jobs. 

Maris Arnold 

 

• 

‘LIONS FOR LAMBS’ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I saw Lions for Lambs, and would like to urge your readers to see it. I’m sending this letter to the Daily Planet rather than to the San Francisco Chronicle because Planet readers are the sort of people it is addressed to. It is preaching to the converted, because Redford knows full well that no one in favor of the Iraq war is going to see it. But it is not telling the converted what they want to hear, which is what makes it interesting. Tom Cruise’s imaginary Republican senator is by far the most articulate and convincing character in the movie, far more so that the two main leftist characters played by Streep and Redford. Redford is relying on the fact that his viewers will already disagree with Cruise’s character, and be shaken up by the fact that they have so little to say in response to him. The movie’s main point is that we are in time where, in Yeats’ words, “The best lack all conviction, and the worst are filled with passionate intensity,” and that unless someone gets off their butts, the worst will continue to do the damage they are doing. 

What Redford is trying to do is get the converted out on the streets and active again, not change the minds of those who are still pro-Iraq war. I think it will have that effect on the few people who do see it, and that is exactly what Redford expected. He knew that this movie would probably have a negative effect on his box office aura, and lose money. But he also felt he had to do something, and because he makes movies, he made a movie. I think that was a heroic thing to do, and I think it will do some good. Hey, it got me to write a letter to the editor. I know that isn’t going to have much effect, just as Redford knows that his movie isn’t going to have that much affect. But each of us has to do what we can do. Otherwise, people like Cruise’s character will continue to run things. 

Teed Rockwell 

 

• 

IRAQ WAR FUNDING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

No more funds for Iraq, except to assure orderly and prompt withdrawal. Use Pentagon funds for high-priced weapons systems that have no military value since the demise of the Soviet Union. Some of these weapons are still being built so as “not to loose the expertise of how to build them.” That ridiculous reason is based on the belief that American know-how couldn’t rise to the need, if the occasion ever presents itself in the future. Meanwhile, our kids need education, our families need health care, our environment needs stewardship, and our infrastructure needs repair. Also, our dollar needs strengthening, wasting dollars on imperial wars can not be afforded. 

Bruce Joffe 

Oakland 

 

• 

BLACK FRIDAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If I hear one more mention of “Black Friday,” I shall slit my wrists! I wonder what hotshot advertising genius came up with that name, which is clearly a contradiction in terms. Presumably desperate merchants and retailers are attempting to lure customers into their stores for blockbuster bargains—so why Black Friday? Doesn’t the very word “Black” cast a somber, foreboding tone? 

On further reflection, however, after watching television and newspaper coverage of the mad rush this past Friday when consumers practically broke down department store doors as early as 5 a.m. in their feverish haste to swoop up merchandise—pushing, shoving, grabbing as many items as they could hold—“Black Friday” seemed an entirely appropriate phrase. Fighting over desktop computers and DVD players, greed reared its ugly head and shoppers suddenly turned into savage beasts, fighting over a dead hawk! Piling their carts with as much merchandise as they could handle, they forked over credit cards, adding to an already astronomical debt, with little thought as to how they would pay for these fabulous bargains. No, this is not a pretty scene, but one which occurs every year the day after Thanksgiving. How else can it be described other than Black Friday? 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

 

• 

WHEN PROGRESSIVES CHEAT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When Republicans cheat to get their candidates elected, we do our best to expose the violations and make noise. But what about when we see our fellow progressives cheating? That’s the dilemma facing KPFA listener-activists after the recent election for the board of directors. KPFA’s management team controlled the mic and openly intervened in the election to tip the playing field in favor of a slate of candidates whom they had recruited for the purpose of packing the board with rubber stampers. As in Ohio and Florida, the cheaters won. They will now have close to a two-thirds majority on the board. 

Complaints of the numerous violations were filed, but, without an enforcement mechanism, the election supervisors were powerless to do much. For example, when a prominent ex-programmer illegally used a station e-mail list to call on listeners to vote for the pro-management slate, the election supervisor ordered as a remedy that each of the opposition groups be allowed to send out a message of their own over the same list. But, as with so many other election procedures designed to ensure fairness, this order was not implemented by KPFA management. The election supervisor also imposed a penalty on the culprit, banning him from the station’s airwaves for the remainder of this year. However, only three days after the announcement of the penalty, the offending programmer was a guest on the Morning Show. He’s also scheduled to host a segment on the upcoming KPFA crafts fair. In this and other instances, the election supervisors were unable to enforce regulations, remedy violations or impose penalties on offenders. Without such powers, fair elections won’t happen. At this point, remedies won’t be easy. There will be the inevitable polarization, bitterness, pain, disgust and bad feelings, and no matter how it may come out in the end, we progressives are going to look bad. It’s messy, and it’s tempting to forget the whole thing, pretend it didn’t happen. On the other hand, if nothing is done, the cheaters will go on cheating; they’ll control KPFA, and what kind of community radio will that be? 

Daniel Borgström 

Oakland 

 

• 

A HOLIDAY MESSAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Holidays are approaching with a message to us all that giving gifts without the feeling of sharing does no mean anything special. A word of comfort has more meaning than wrapping the store-bought gift out of traditional obligation. I went to an area where homeless people sit in the sun. I was carrying woolen clothing and some chocolate filled nuts. I gave the bag of food and clothing to a middle-aged woman and said, “Please share this with your neighbors.” The woman looked up in the cold winter weather and said, “God bless you.” 

I pray daily that I should be the person who can share with others rather than be the receiver. 

Romila Khanna 

Albany 

 

• 

OAKLAND CRIME 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding J. Douglas Allan-Taylor’s recent articles on crime in Oakland: Many Oakland residents believe the city’s biggest problem is the crime rate. They have a right to be upset, and they were naturally dismayed when the mayor responded to their concerns by describing the police as “an oppressive presence.” 

The Oakland Police Department is too small, even at full strength (803 officers), to fully protect the community’s safety and civil rights. Changes in deployment and work shifts are unlikely to solve the problem. The size of the department is one of the last remaining legacies of the Knowland era. The Knowlands were anti-tax, conservative Republicans. In those days the city could get by with an underfunded police department. In the 1950s, for example, there were only about 15 homicides annually. The lowest number after World War II was 8, in 1955. All that changed after the drug era began, and the homicide rate rose to its current average of 100-plus per annum. The lowest number of homicides in recent years was 72 in 1998, under Chief Samuels. He lost his job because his spending on community policing rocketed way beyond his budget. 

Most cities the size of Oakland have about 1,400 officers. My own belief is that Oakland should have a minimum of 2,000. If a new measure is proposed to increase the number of police officers, I hope liberals and progressives support it. A larger police department would be a blessing for ordinary people everywhere in the city. 

Phil McArdle 

 

• 

MORE ON OAKLAND CRIME 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your columnist J. Douglas Allen-Taylor quotes Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums’ public safety task force co-convener Jason Victor Serinus denouncing the alleged practice of “locking up more and more young black and brown people.” Mr. Serinus needs to check the numbers. The rate of arresting youth ages 10-17 in Oakland fell from 2,491 per 100,000 in 2000 to 1,387 per 100,000 in 2005. That’s not “more and more;” it’s fewer and fewer. These rates were computed from California Dept. of Justice tallies by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. 

The basic number that both Serinus and Allen-Taylor ignore is the fact that Oakland has half a police department. Most major cities have 35 to 45 officers per 10,000 residents; Oakland has 18. We need at least 1,100 police in Oakland, up from the 722 we had as of Nov. 2. Then we can implement community policing (Mr. Serinus’s special concern) as well as have enough officers to drop Oakland a few spots down from its current rank as—if you will permit me one final number—the fourth most dangerous city in the country. 

Charles Pine 

Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods 

 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was pleased to read that Doug Buckwald, notorious nay-sayer on Bus Rapid Transit, has seriously studied the EmX BRT in Eugene, Oregon. He even called an LRT official—who said that “they would have encountered far greater difficulty getting their BRT system implemented if they had displaced parking to any significant extent.” When I was in Eugene, I saw very little on-street parking along the EmX route. 

Sure, we don’t need dedicated bus lanes on all of the route. All we need is some way to ensure that the BRT will run faster than the cars. That means bus lanes in places where car congestion slows the buses now. Some people can’t seem to conceive of the BRT actually reducing car traffic—but that’s just what should happen if enough car drivers ride the BRT. If 60 people ride one bus, that’s 60 fewer cars blowing CO2. 

It would be nice to have free fares on our BRT, like the free fares on the Emery-Go-Round, but we’d have to tax businesses to pay for it, as Emeryville did. Eugene’s free fares are only for the first year; after that, they may have to charge. The rest of Eugene’s bus system requires a fare, and does not yet use proof-of-payment—even though most riders have some kind of pass. 

After hearing the truth about Eugene’s BRT, perhaps Berkeley could work on fixing the flaws in our BRT plan and go on to have Eugene’s BRT success. 

Steve Geller 

 

• 

STEM CELL SHOCKER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A stem cell shocker—skin cells can be used instead of embryonic cells to duplicate organ parts—thus defusing the debate over ethical standards. Not so shocking once you realize that each cell contains a DNA replica of the whole body. 

In the movie Star Wars, Luke Skywalker’s adventure begins when a beam of light shoots out of the robot R2D2 and projects a miniature three-dimensional image of Princess Leia. The image is a hologram. A hologram is a specially constructed image which, when illuminated by a laser beam, seems eerily suspended in three-dimensional space. The most incredible feature of a hologram is that any piece of it provides an image of the entire hologram. In the same way the information of the whole body and all its organs is contained in each cell. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley


Commentary: The DAPAC Finale: A Convoluted But Positive Ending

By Jim Novosel
Tuesday November 27, 2007

The proceeding of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) has come to an end. And what an ending it is. This Thursday, Nov. 29, the Committee will vote on the plan and most likely, a slight majority will affirm it and a minority will abstain; not vote against it but abstain in the final vote before the group disbands. It is a true irony that the many of those who were appointed by the councilmembers that had voted against creating DAPAC, were those who worked the hardest to create a consensus plan that is reasonable, progressive and one that most of our citizens will likely support. On the other hand, most appointees of councilmembers who voted to create DAPAC have indicated that they will abstain from voting for the plan. DAPAC, set up by the City Council with a slim 5 to 4 vote, has ended mirroring the divisions on the city Council in the reverse. 

DAPAC members have approved all aspects of the plan except those concerning land use policies. The main contention between the two sides is over building heights. In explaining the differences between the two positions, I will first compare the majority’s proposed land use policies from those of the 1990 plan. That plan was an attempt to rein in downtown development and to buffer neighboring residential districts from the impacts of large scale buildings. The plan was in part a reaction to the proposed Courtney Building of 10 stories at the corner of Durant and Fulton and to the Golden Bear along University Avenue.  

The 1990 plan divided the downtown district into a core and several surrounding buffer zones. The plan envisioned a wedding cake zoning profile of taller buildings in the core and lower buildings in the buffer areas as one neared low scaled residential districts. It established core heights of 65 feet and five stories with building volumes (FARs) of four times the square footage of a site. With augmentations or bonuses, development could rise to 87 feet and seven stories with building volumes of six. The buffer zones were limited to 40-foot heights and three stories but could be augmented to 50 feet and four stories. 

DAPAC members by and large viewed the 1990 plan as too restrictive. However, two views developed as to how to loosen the rules on building heights and encourage growth. The majority view proposes core heights of 85 feet and six stories with building volumes of 4.9 the square footage of a site. In addition to allowing buildings of this height, it also stipulates that there can be four buildings of 100 feet/seven stories and four buildings of 120 feet/nine stories. Furthermore, it allows two more buildings, if they are hotels, to exceed heights of 200 feet or up to 19 stories such as the proposed hotel at the Bank of America site.  

The minority view first wants to give developers the right to unlimited 100’ high buildings throughout the core. Second, they wish to defer fixing the maximum height of the four tall buildings until an economic analysis is performed. Their arguments are based on a view that in order for development to provide economic benefits, it must be allowed to build to a profitable height. From DAPAC’s beginning, several have argued for heights above 14 stories or around 160 feet, depicted as point towers. They fear that without allowing these higher heights and the unlimited 100-foot buildings, the city will not be encouraging development that could support the many public improvements envisioned in the plan.  

The majority clearly desires to envision and control the shape and character of the downtown and not leave it up to developers and their number calculations to dictate the look and feel of their cityscape. They are comfortable with five- to six-story buildings and feel that these types fit into our cityscape better and will provide enough population growth. They also have little fear that development will go away as the presence of the University assures continuing growth and change.  

Regardless of height considerations, all have agreed to increase the core’s boundaries appreciably. The current core is approximately 33 acres and is defined by Addison on the north, Kittredge on the south, and stretches midway to Oxford and Milvia. The new core will be nearly 72 acres or more than twice the current size. It stretches somewhat between Hearst on the north, Durant on the south, Oxford on the east and midway to MLK on the west. To accomplish this, the buffers, though intact, have been shrunk. These two remarkable land use changes, the general increase in building heights and the core’s boundaries, represent an astounding up scaling and up zoning of the downtown. By any objective appraisal, this is a huge change embracing the goal of increasing residential populations and commercial life in the downtown. 

Not only will private development obtain huge changes to zoning laws, the university, with its sizable land holdings along the Oxford edge of the downtown, has been sanctioned to build up to the limits that they desired. Under current zoning, their land is zoned for heights ranging from 40 feet to 60 feet. They have come out of this process with a clear mandate as regards heights and stories. A 100-foot height limit will apply to all university properties, although they agreed to reduce heights along Hearst Street. They have also agreed to several good urban planning principles; to bring the campus’ park-like features into their downtown developments, to create better pedestrian connections throughout, to respect historical important buildings (read University Garage), and to create public, accessible uses along street frontages. All in all, the university’s participation has been engaging, constructive and sympathetic to the city’s goals. If one views the DAPAC process as a new model for constructive planning between the university and the city, which was one of its original goals for both parties, the plan created represents an astounding success.  

There are urban design modifiers to this encouragement of development. For the first time, the downtown district will have lot coverage standards. Up till now, the downtown is the only district that allows developments to cover 100 percent of their property with buildings. No setbacks are presently required. Nor is ground floor open space required. The new plan will required that developments with buildings above 100 feet will be able to cover only 80 percent of their lot. Developments up to a 100 feet will be allowed 90 percent coverage. This simple ruling will obtain ground floor open space and landscaping areas within our urban environment. It will help encourage mid-block pedestrian walkways, greenery and open spaces that the plan proposes. 

On the face of it, DAPAC finds itself in an incredible circumstance: To have a group of people, who worked diligently and intently for two years come to the end of their deliberations with 40 percent voting to abstain over one issue—building height. It would be one thing if the plan was some radical, no-growth, no-change document that severely limited private development or the university’s right to use their land. Two years ago, some political wags would have predicated such an outcome. Instead, to most observers’ amazement, and to even many of the participants who have developed the plan, the opposite has occurred.  

As an architect who has closely watched development and planning in Berkeley’s downtown for a quarter of a century, I have little doubt that the new plan is light years ahead of the 1990 plan in embracing growth along with our community values. The plan acknowledges that the downtown is not a “finished” cityscape. In and among its fine buildings, there are under-used and insubstantial properties whose upgrade or redevelopment will allow for the continued improvement of the downtown’s cityscape. It is essential that we use the talents and energies of architects and developers to augment the built environment and champion the belief in a better future for citizens and visitors. With these thoughts, I hope that those members of DAPAC who did not vote at our last meeting to support the majority’s view reflect on how far we have come as a group in embracing growth and change. In that reflection, I hope that you find it possible to embrace a consensus position for the good of the community, and send to the Planning Commission and City Council a plan that a majority of our citizens would approve.  

 

Jim Novosel is a Berkeley architect and a DAPAC member. 

 

 

 


Commentary: Act Rationally: Go Independent

By Joanna Graham
Tuesday November 27, 2007

OK, I’ve been putting this off for a long time, but now I have to ask. In what universe does Bob Burnett live? I’m interested because I’d like to go there too. In Bob’s universe, surely goodness and mercy will follow us as soon as “bad” Republicans are replaced by “good” Democrats. I guess in Bob’s universe the “good” Democrats haven’t already been in control of Congress for a year, getting nothing done that might cheer us humble folk. Oh, but wait, that’s not fair! They have a mere majority and there’s a Republican in the White House, so how can we expect them to accomplish anything? We must look back to the glory years from 1993 to 2001 when the Democrat in the White House did so much good for us…. Oops, I forgot! For all except the first two years (during which he agitated for NAFTA, instituted “Don’t ask, don’t tell”, and created the health care debacle) that poor Democrat was hamstrung by a Republican Congress. So there was no way he could possibly have accomplished all the wonderful things he intended. 

The first presidential election in which I voted was the Kennedy/Nixon race of 1960. My dad said, “Well, I don’t like either of them, but I’ll probably vote for Kennedy as the lesser of two evils.” Thus was I introduced to my family’s rule: always vote for the Democrat, who is always the lesser of two evils. And thus, holding my nose, I voted, all the way through 1992. In 1996, however, unlike Bob Burnett, I coped with the cognitive dissonance produced by the following truth: William Jefferson Clinton had not proved to be the lesser of two evils. He was exactly the same evil! Just like Reagan and Bush I before him and Bush II after, Bill brought us offshoring, deregulation, attacks on the poor, assaults on civil liberties, environmental degradation, foreign policy through bombing, and, under Hillary Rodham’s guidance, the handing over of the American health care system to big pharma and the insurance industry, with the disastrous consequences still unfolding today. 

So in 1996 I acted rationally. I gave up my allegiance to the Democratic Party. Along with most of those other few Americans who still bother to vote, I became independent. What this means in practice is that I scan through the entire list of, sigh, candidates for any office and try to decipher which of them might, possibly, be the least of the evils. Sometimes it’s the Democrat, sometimes it isn’t. But the range from worst to best is hardly ever wide and often inscrutable. 

Of course, there are reasons for this. Such as rigged elections. And money, money, money. Under our current system, the only people neurotic enough, venal enough, or both, to become candidates are not people you would want to have to dinner, let alone elect to office. So it’s no surprise that our current crop of presidential hopefuls makes mediocre look positively astral by comparison. 

So, what is to be done? My own sense is vote, since what the hey. And vote creatively. For example, work your butt off for Cindy Sheehan, instead of muttering about circular firing squads. What? You think Sheehan is going to knock off that great “progressive” Pelosi? Who’s done so much for us? No, she won’t. She can’t. But if she gets even 10 or 15 or 20 percent of the vote, she will attract national attention to the fact that Pelosi is not doing the job her constituents sent her to Congress to do. And spitting into the self-referential complacency of the chattering classes is always worth it. 

In the same vein, I will definitely support Cynthia McKinney for president, should she ever decide to run. Cynthia, who (unlike Ralph Nader) has real political instincts, could revitalize the Green Party, getting it organized and making it far more representative of the American polity than it now is. Which would be good, because, boy, do we need a real third party! 

But, oh gosh, what if the Green Party takes votes away from the “good” Dems and, as a consequence, the “bad” Repubs win? Stop a minute. Do you really think it matters whether it’s Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani in the White House? Rudy will provide far more amusement. It’s Hil who’s cast in the Dubya I’m-always-right-I-will-punish-my-enemies mold. Anyway, whichever wins, the course of America is set and will continue downward, taking us all with it. 

Which brings me to my second point. Vote. Why not, it’s fun. It feels all patriotic and small-town like Norman Rockwell, with the cute little flag out in front and the “I voted” sticker to wear. But don’t stop there! Think of something! Do something! Find others to do it with! Be creative! Be brave! Be aggressive! Throw yourself on the gears, like Mario Savio said. Absent divine intervention, what I do and you do and you do is our last, slim, chance to save the American republic. Which reminds me. Don’t forget to keep your fingers crossed. 

 

Joanna Graham is a Berkeley resident. 

 

 


Columns

Column: Undercurrents: A Ride, Or a Walk, In Uptown-Downtown Oakland

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 30, 2007

Last summer, I happened to be walking with an out-of-town couple who had come, early, to a Paramount Theater concert and, with some time to kill, wanted to know if I knew of any good places in the downtown area to get something to eat. I did, actually. Several places. But Jack London Square seemed too far for them to walk and, with little city signage to help them along the way, I thought they might be mistrustful of any directions a strange local might give them that took them off Broadway to Old Oakland or Chinatown. They got a hot dog from one of the vendors who works outside the Paramount events, I think, and an opportunity was lost. 

Two weeks ago, I wrote that the Dellums administration should concentrate its retail development plans away from downtown and into the existing community commercial districts. By that suggestion, however, I did not mean to imply that downtown should be abandoned. The Jerry Brown 10K plan was designed to attract new residents into the downtown area so that retail would follow. I would suggest that while we are waiting for the retail, the Dellums administration ought to adopt a different strategy: Make the existing downtown attractive for both residents and visitors, to the point that there is a sufficient critical mass of shoppers and eaters and foot traffic to get the attention of the retail businesses that are so important to our tax needs. 

And the key point is that such a plan will require far fewer city dollars than were used, say, to subsidize Forest City or the Fox renovation. What is needed to revitalize Oakland’s downtown is not so much money, after all, but rather a change of thought process, purpose and direction. 

Let’s go back to the out-of-town couple coming to the Paramount Theater event, and looking for somewhere to eat downtown, beforehand. What could the city have had in place, downtown, to help this couple find what they wanted, and what the city—almost desperately—wants them to be able to find? 

First-off, a free downtown shuttle would be nice. 

AC Transit used to run one several years back, but the service became one of the casualties of the transit district’s ongoing budget problems. My suggestion is that the City of Oakland needs to revive that service as a necessary component for downtown revitalization, either in connection with AC Transit or, if AC Transit is unwilling, the city should either run its own shuttle service or contract the job out to some other organization. 

Such a shuttle could run a route along the downtown areas where the city wants to direct the most dollars, and continue until all of the venues close. One suggestion would be to start somewhere around the uptown area—where the city is anticipating new residents moving into the Forest City Project—running past both the Paramount and the Fox, when the Fox begins operating as an entertainment venue, going down Broadway past the City Center and the Marriott, making a loop west through Old Oakland on its southward trip to Jack London Square and then east through Chinatown on its way back uptown. A component might also include a trip down 14th Street to the beginning of Lake Merritt and back, particularly as the city begins to move on the Measure DD improvements to provide an overground, visible, and walkable connection of the western end of the lake to the estuary. That would allow a pass-by of both the Oakland Museum and—if we ever open it up again as an entertainment venue—the Kaiser Convention Center. The city could provide uptown-downtown maps which include a list of places along or near the shuttle route to eat, to shop, and to take in entertainment. The city—or AC Transit—could also provide drivers who could answer appropriate questions. Yes, this would be an extra cost to the city. But the city already spends far more money on developer subsidies directed towards downtown revitalization. An uptown-downtown free shuttle would seem a necessary component to that revitalization, at a relatively minor cost. 

But what about the encouragement of foot traffic? 

Well, first, signage would help, considerably. Wherever we think large groups of people are likely to congregate—and then, again, periodically along the way—the city should erect signage in the uptown-downtown area which directs pedestrians to various sections. The signage would not necessarily advertise specific businesses but instead would let pedestrians know that “this way”--for example-- lies Chinatown, with its collection of shops and restaurants, and “that way” lies Old Oakland, with its bars and grills, world food outlets, bookstores, and other amenities. Periodically spaced, unmanned kiosks where brochures can be placed—something you almost always see in cities interested in catering to tourism—would also help. One ought not to have to find the Chamber of Commerce headquarters or duck into the lobby of the Marriott, if you know where the Marriott is, to find such things. 

That being said, making the walk more amenable and inviting between these destination points would also be a plus. 

The most serious impediment to encouraging foot traffic between City Center and Jack London Square is the 880-Broadway overpass—or underpass, depending on your point of view—between 6th and 5th streets. With the marked police car parking lot directly adjacent, and the police headquarters only a couple of blocks away, this is probably one of the safer stretches to walk in Oakland. But it doesn’t appear that way. Instead, the walk under the overpass is dark and foreboding and appears dangerous, and the aging collected pigeon droppings along the sidewalk give it a distinctly unsanitary appearance as well. Despite the inviting view of the city’s lighted Holiday Tree clearly visible at the entrance to Jack London Square only five blocks away, it is easy to imagine city visitors coming from the Marriott early in the evening, stopping at the overpass, peering down the street, deciding that, no, there’s probably nothing of particular interest or value down that direction, and turning back. 

This is clearly a case where a lemon should be turned to lemonade. Increasing the lighting under the 880 overpass would be a distinct plus. So, perhaps, would be tacking up poster boards along the pilings on each side and using them as mural space for local artists. Cleaning up the birdshit on a regular basis is, well, a necessity. An added touch might be to theme the underpass as a gateway arch and passage, with appropriate signage over the top in each direction. 

The suggestion of mural art through the underpass invites another suggestion, that the city should encourage walking through the uptown-downtown area not only as a way to get to a particular destination, but also for the pleasure of the walk itself and the things seen along the way. Several Oakland neighborhoods are already demonstrating the power of that process by having entire sections of houses with spectacular holiday light displays—the area near Seminary Avenue and MacArthur being one such example—so that folks make it a habit every year to drive the kids over and through, just to have a look. 

In such a way, Oakland could encourage walking in the uptown-downtown area, just for walking’s sake. 

West Oakland business advocate Steve Lowe long ago suggested that the city use the many vacant store windows along lower Broadway between the overpass and Jack London Square to house doll and toy displays. The idea was never picked up by the city, and one wonders why. It appears to be one of those win-win-win situations, all the way around. The city gets the uptown-downtown walking traffic it desperately wants, the displaying collectors and artisans get free publicity and exposure, and the owners of the vacant buildings get a rise in their property values as the size of the crowds increase. 

But such displays ought not to stop with dolls and toys. In several places in its downtown, the City of Berkeley sponsors art displays in vacant windows. Oakland ought to follow suit, with themed displays along selected walking routes, some of them cultural, some of them historic, some of them seasonal, changing them periodically so that pedestrians would be encouraged to come back from time to time. 

There are other social concerns of course, about who Oakland has been trying to attract to its uptown-downtown area and who it has been trying to keep out, and our inability as a city to come to some sort of terms with our young Black and Brown population. Resolving that problem would go a long ways towards resolving the problem of an underused uptown-downtown. But that’s an issue we’ve often talked about, and a subject for another time. 

Meanwhile, I’m no city planner, so I haven’t done a cost breakdown of the above suggestions. But I often walk or ride in the uptown-downtown area, and I see its deficiencies. I often hear the complaints and concerns that there are not enough places in the area to shop or eat. My concern is that the city is not doing enough to steer the public to the places that are already there. These are my suggestions of how to alleviate that problem. I am sure the professional city planners in Oakland can come up with a far better list, if they put their heads to it. 


East Bay: Then and Now: North Gables: Early Exemplar of Equal Opportunity Housing

By Daniella Thompson
Friday November 30, 2007

In 1948, University of California enrollment at the Berkeley campus reached 22,000 students, making adequate housing the number-one problem facing the student body. That year, the California Alumni Association published the book Students at Berkeley, which contained a large chapter devoted to housing and analyzed potential student housing sites. 

The Northside was judged unsuitable for student housing owing to “very unfavorable topography” and “remoteness from the center of student activities.” Older buildings—the Victorians and Colonial Revivals now prized as historic resources—were also deemed inadequate for student habitation. 

As an example of “adaptation of old and unsuitable buildings,” the book displayed two photos of Victorians, one of which was the North Gables boarding house at 2531 Ridge Road. The 19th-century houses were unfavorably compared with the university-owned Stern Hall, built in 1942. 

The 1962 Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP) for the campus proposed new university buildings to be constructed on four Northside city blocks facing the campus between Highland Place and Scenic Avenue. Existing structures—public or private—were to be demolished, including the historic Cloyne Court Hotel, North Gate Hall, and Drawing Building, all designed by John Galen Howard, and the former Beta Theta Pi chapter house, designed by Ernest Coxhead. 

On the Southside, the housing development suggested by the Alumni Association dictated a radically clean sweep of the twenty city blocks between College Avenue, Bancroft Way, Fulton Street, and Dwight Way, retaining only “institutions of quasi-public and social character” and the Telegraph Avenue-Bancroft Way business district. The rest was to be occupied by “elevator-type living centers” with “generous open space for recreation and amenity.” 

Miraculously, the sweep wasn’t quite as radical as intended, and many historic buildings on both sides of the campus were spared. On the Northside, Cloyne Court Hotel, North Gate Hall, the Drawing Building, Beta Theta Pi, and many pre-1923 residences were eventually designated as landmarks. The Victorian at 2531 Ridge Road—for which a landmark application was never written owing to insufficient information—not only survived but continues to house students. 

This charming, turreted house, now divided into six apartments, was one of the earliest homes built in the Daley’s Scenic Park tract. The first improvement on the site was recorded in 1892, and by the following year it had more than doubled. After passing through two owners in as many years, the property was acquired by one William Fisher, who may have briefly lived in the house but never long enough to be listed in the Berkeley directory. 

Next door, at 2527 Ridge Road, another Victorian went up at the same time. This house was acquired by James and Margaret Pierce, who lived in it until 1904, when they became managers of the newly completed Cloyne Court Hotel and sold their home to the Swiss vice-consul, John Freuler. Until the mid-1910s, Strawberry Creek ran in its natural channel across the back yards of both houses. 

Unlike its next-door neighbor, 2531 Ridge Road was always occupied by renters. Beginning in 1899, it was the home of Mrs. Annie E. Benson, a 65-year old widow from Pennsylvania. In the 1900 U.S. census, Mrs. Benson listed her occupation as Landlady. This in itself was not remarkable, but the 1900 census revealed two facts about Mrs. Benson that were remarkable indeed. For one, her race was listed as Black, making Annie Benson the only African-American head of household on the Northside. The one other person listed as Black in the neighborhood at the time was a domestic living in the household of her employers. (Five other persons—the wife and four children of realtor Herman Murphy—were also listed as Black in 1900; however, all subsequent census records marked them as White.) 

The second revelation about Mrs. Benson is even more interesting. In 1900, her tenants at 2531 Ridge Road were Austin and Ethel Lewis and their three children. 

Attorney, writer, socialist, and civil libertarian, Austin Lewis (1865–1944) was a highly visible figure in his day. Born in England, he immigrated to the United States in 1890 with his parents and siblings. The family arrived in Berkeley circa 1898 and established the private Glenholm School in their home on the corner of Shattuck Ave. and Berryman Street, at the current entrance to Live Oak Park. 

Why Austin Lewis, who was practicing law in San Francisco, chose to leave the family home and move into a rental on Ridge Road is not apparent, unless he did so expressly to help Annie Benson. 

Lewis was a tireless activist and lecturer in support of labor and women’s suffrage. Shortly after his arrival in Berkeley, Lewis published a series of books on socialism. The first was a translation of Friedrich Engels’ Feuerbach: The Roots of the Socialist Philosophy (1903), followed by his own The Church and Socialism (1906), The Rise of the American Proletarian (1907), The Militant Proletariat (c. 1911), and Proletarian and Petit-Bourgeois (1910s). 

In 1901, Berkeley gained another socialist in the figure of future mayor J. Stitt Wilson (1868–1942), a former Methodist Episcopal minister turned lecturer, who in 1903 bought a Maybeck-designed house on Highland Place, two blocks to the east of the Benson-Lewis household. The house—built in 1896 and destroyed in 1956—is known to architectural historians as the Laura G. Hall House, but considering that Ms. Hall occupied it for no more than a year, while Stitt Wilson owned it for several decades, it might be more appropriate to name it after him. 

Like Lewis, Wilson published socialist tracts, including The Message of Socialism to the Church and The Impending Social Revolution, or The Labor Problem Solved (both in 1904). Unlike Lewis, Wilson was obliged to publish them at his own expense. 

Lewis and Wilson were the two luminaries of the Socialist Party, and both ran in California gubernatorial races on their party’s ticket. In 1906, Lewis garnered 5.1% of the votes in a four-way race won by Republican James N. Gillett. Four years later, Wilson collected 12.4% of the votes in a three-way race won by Republican Hiram W. Johnson. Lewis, who ran for the U.S. Congress from the Fourth District that year, came in third behind the Republican and Democratic candidates. 

As friend, mentor, and sometime lawyer to a large coterie of writers and poets, Austin Lewis counted Jack London, Herman Whitaker, and George Sterling in his circle. Influenced by Lewis, London wrote The Iron Heel, a dystopian novel set in the future and depicting the triumph of capital over socialism. 

In September 1909, Lewis was one of 25 literary figures who organized the Press Club of Alameda, which would evolve into the California Writers’ Club. At the time, the club was the only California organization of its kind to include both men and women members. Lewis was elected as the club’s first president. 

Among the causes that engaged Lewis’s interest were the efforts to free Tom Mooney and Warren Billings—two labor leaders falsely accused of planting a bomb in a 1916 San Francisco parade—and to repeal California’s criminal syndicalism law, which classified dissident speech as a felony punishable by imprisonment. 

The Lewis family stayed at 2531 Ridge Road only briefly. By 1901 they had moved to 3108 Harper Street, and two years later they decamped for Oakland, where they lived at 3103 Stuart Street (in 1927, Highland Hospital would be built across the street from their house). Annie Benson, now listed in the directories as a cook, continued living at the Ridge Road house until 1904, when she moved to 1536 Shattuck Avenue. Her new house stood on the site now occupied by the parking lot between the French Hotel and Bank of America. 

While the Swiss vice-consul was living next door, 2531 Ridge Road became the home of William O’Brien, a blacksmith. In 1919, the house was taken over by Edna G. White (1884–1957), a former school teacher from Illinois, who established in it a boarding house for female students. She called it North Gables. 

North Gables was run along the lines of a co-operative. Residents paid $25 a month ($30 in the ’40s) for room and board, supplementing their rent payments with five weekly hours of work that included cleaning, cooking, serving, dish washing, gardening, and repair. About a quarter of the thirty lodgers worked an additional two hours a day and lived rent-free. 

Like all such living accommodations, North Gables required the approval of the Dean of Women and underwent regular inspections. During the 1920s, it was expanded fore and aft—the front façade, which had originally featured a polygonal window bay in the southeast corner and a small entrance porch at the southwest, gained a deep porch running across its entire length, with a sleeping porch above it. 

North Gables weathered the Depression and World War II, enabling a great many girls of slender means to obtain university education. The boarding house ceased operation in 1949, after Miss White’s health deteriorated. The building has since passed through many hands and was eventually converted into apartments. Its former next-door neighbor is long since gone, having made way for the Hotel Slocum, now known as the Stebbins Hall co-op, named after Dean of Women Lucy Ward Stebbins, who in 1933 awarded North Gables third-place honors for scholarship. 

 

 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

 

Photograph: Daniella Thompson  

2531 Ridge Road, built in 1892, is one of the oldest buildings on the Northside. 


Garden Variety: Shopping for the Gardener On Your List, Part 1

By Ron Sullivan
Friday November 30, 2007

It’s post-Thanksgiving: socially, it’s December. Time to think about holiday shopping.  

Sure, some people have got all their gift-shopping done, either in mid-July or in last year’s post-holiday sales. They have more storage space than anyone I know, and/or they lack the true Spirit of the Wild Hunt. (You didn’t think the Wal-Mart frenzy had anything to do with that newfangled Christ guy, did you?) The rest of us are just now getting into gear. 

If you have a gardener to shop for, it shouldn’t be too hard. First: You have live stuff to consider. There are seeds, late bulbs, and plants for the garden and house all over the place. In this season an indoor plant is a good idea; there’s no need to worry about late freezes and it’s always good to have one more bit of green living at one’s elbow to make the wait for Spring easier.  

For elegant and practical gifts, go browse at Hida Tool and Hardware. Be prepared to walk sideways, because the shop is tiny and full of good stuff. Sometimes you can find things you never knew you (or your giftee) needed, like cuffs that cover the arm just above glove level, for working on junipers or roses or any prickly plant. They look all superhero-cool too.  

Check out the long-reach pruners, the various hoes and weeders, the incomparable saws, the irreplaceable hori-hori trowel/knives. My personal art-object favorite is the right- or left-handed one-side-beveled grafting knife. This is one piece of shaped metal with a wicker wrap around the handle for a Neolithic look, which would make it retro even if it’s a 500-year-old design.  

Hida doesn’t sell Felco brand pruning shears, oddly enough. Sure, Felcos are a Swiss brand, but where’s the International Luv?  

If you really really love your gardener, consider a pair of Felcos as a present even if she or he already had one. I’m saying this as a multiple-Felco owner, despite one of the major advantage of the brand: You’ll never have to buy another pair because every part is replaceable. Mostly it’s a new cutting blade that’s needed, and that only after several years’ resharpening.  

Felcos ain’t cheap but they’re a good investment. You might spend $50 to $75 on a pair, but those replacement blades cost less than $10 and they make the old pair feel brand-new.  

A sharpener for the blade is a good lagniappe—giving the shears a lick or two before every job, rather like steeling a kitchen knife, makes work a pleasure and a sharp blade is better for the plants you’re pruning too. I have a simple pair of flat diamond files that I’ve almost worn out after 20 years. They cost under $10 together and take up very little pocket space.  

The rub is this: It’s hard to surprise your gift-getter with Felcos because they really ought to be tried on first. There are 14 models, to fit all sorts of hands (including left ones) and uses. I use #8—in case some Felco Fairy would care to visit me.  

 

Next week: more gift ideas. 

 

 

Felcos:  

Hida Tool and Hardware Company 

1333 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley  

(510) 524-3700 or (800) 443-5512 

http://www.hidatool.com 

9:00 a.m.. - 6:00 p.m. Monday—Satuday  

Closed Sunday 

 

Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts  

2904 College Avenue, Berkeley  

(510) 704-8222 

Mon—Wed 10 a.m.—7 p.m. 

Thurs—Sat 10 a.m.—9 pmm. 

Sunday noon—6 p.m. 

http://www.mrsdalloways.com 

 

Also try the nearest hardware, nursery, or garden store, e.g.Yabusaki’s Dwight Way Nursery, East Bay Nursery, Berkeley Horticultural Nursery. 

 

Online: http://www.felcostore.com 


About the House: A Resident’s Guide to Our Mushy Landscape

By Matt Cantor
Friday November 30, 2007

Welcome to my watershed. I really like it here but it is, basically, a big clay bowl and we’re all salad. 

Some of us get lucky by being up on the edge of the bowl or on one of the ridges on the inside, but most of are not and so it gets wet under our houses. 

This image is intentionally over the top but I want to get you started thinking about this in a larger context. We are in a watershed filled with creeks, springs, aquifers and culverted water-ways. If you put clay soils on top of this system of waterways, you can imagine that you end up with something like your first experience on the potter’s wheel. Everything is slippery and it’s hard to maintain a rigid or fixed form. 

You might imagine that it’s rather hard for a house to remain truly rectilinear, plumb and square when resting on this sort of thing. Add to this the fact that many houses were built on “filled” soils that were brought to the site to create a level surface (or because it was cheaper than hauling off the excess soil from local works such road building) and it’s easy to understand why these houses are so wracked and warped. The filled soils may have seemed stable when they were first installed but the loading of many tons of house combined with a few good rains and, voila, you’ve got Trouble (right here in River City!). 

“Filled” soils compact under load or when water is added and many houses have “differential” settlement (one area has settled more than another) that is attributable, in part, to this effect. 

When contractors started building here in the 1800s, they didn’t pay drainage or soils issues much heed and so many of the houses built up through the early 1900s have settlement which stems from these oversights. By 1940, foundations got much stronger and so could “bridge” over soft spots without settlement to a much greater degree. We also observed better site preparation beginning in this time period and the avoidance of filled soils was one such improvement. 

In short, the soils conditions we find locally (and in many other parts of the globe) require that buildings be able to withstand a certain amount of earth movement and poor drainage. 

Many of these issues are hard to resolve without great sums of cash. However, there is one factor in this scenario that is, at least somewhat, manageable and that is the water. 

Wet soils move more than dry soils.  

We can’t really change the soil we’re on (well you can but, boy, it’s really expensive) but you can keep it dryer. There’s no perfect drainage system but if we endeavor to keep the soil below our houses dry we can slow the movement quite a bit and have more stable, less weirdly shaped homes. 

If you’re on a hillside you have a more complex problem, although your water issue may not be as bad as some that I see in flatter areas. 

If your crouton is located on the side of the salad bowl, it’s working it’s way slowly to the bottom of the bowl. Add more dressing, it will get there faster. If your crouton is on the bottom of the bowl, it’s not moving so fast, although it may be sitting in too much Balsamic Vinaigrette. 

As water softens the soils below hillside homes, they will tend to move downhill more rapidly than they will when they’re dry. Those of us who get to live in the hills are, therefore, living in mobile-homes. Gravity not only pulls our houses downhill, it also applies force “differentially” and many hillside homes show separations or cracks that result from different parts of the house moving in different direction and/or at different rates. 

One cause of differential settlement is that the wetting of soils is never uniform. Even if the soils you rest upon are completely homogenous, they will not be getting wet in a uniform manner because water flows in funny and surprising ways, although some aspects of this are predictable. For example, water will flow down against the back of your house (if your house faces downhill), creating wetter soils there. This can make the back wall settle more than the rest. 

The result of uneven wetting is, often, uneven settlement. As I’ve indicated, this is more true with early foundation than with modern ones due to their breadth and strength. 

There also may be harder soil beneath some parts of your house and regardless of wetting, that part might always be held aloft while other parts drop away. 

Settlement can occur just as easily on soils of uniform strength when some parts are kept much dryer than others. Often the middle of the house is staying dryer and does not settle as much as the edges which are wetted to a greater degree. This is not consistent, though, since some houses have deep portion near the middle (especially hillside homes which are cut away for basements or garages). These houses often exhibit the reverse effect with the middle settling faster than the rest because the middle supports rest upon wetter soils in a depression that holds water. 

Just to make matters all the more confusing, our local clay bed has the disconcerting propensity to rise and fall as it wets and dries. Expansive clay soils will push houses upward as they get wet (because the clay takes on water and holds it) and then lower these structures down as they dry out. This is sometimes referred to as “clay-jacking.” 

This turns out to be a locomotive process when you add gravity. Hillside homes are driven downhill very slowly because every time they rise and fall, they get pushed a little further downhill. 

At this point I feel obliged to stop the drama and say that most of the houses I see are not being affected by these forces enough to require any significant repair. Few houses remain truly square after 6 or 8 decades of being subjected to these effects but, in most cases, these changes can be spackled and ignored. 

So, let’s review. You’re living in a crouton on the side of a bowl of Caesar. 

Remember to ask for the dressing on the side. 

Next time, I’ll explain about how to do that and the solution is French (the drain, not the dressing). 


Column: The Public Eye: Cloning Dubya

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday November 27, 2007

While George Dubya Bush will be in office for 14 more months, many have already labeled him the worst president in modern American history. They complain that the Bush legacy will extend well beyond January of 2009, when the next president takes office. Political observers lament he has had the “reverse Midas touch,” where he’s worsened every aspect of American foreign and domestic policy he’s blundered into. Bush’s most lasting negative legacy can be attributed to his autocratic leadership style, which has inspired other politicians to emulate his tactics and ethics. As a result, we see mini-Dubyas running for president and Dubya clones ruling other countries. 

Bush has had a distinctive and destructive presidency. One characteristic has been dogmatic inflexibility: he came into power with a militant conservative agenda—cut taxes, reduce government restrictions on business, expand the role of the military, and promote American empire—and has not deviated from this. Even in the face of evidence that it was counterproductive, Bush has steadfastly pursued his program: when he launched his “war” on terror, he could have asked the American people to make a common economic sacrifice and pay higher taxes, but he refused to do this. His administration ran up unprecedented deficits while claiming to be “stimulating” the market. 

President Bush does not believe in the balance of powers doctrine prescribed in the Constitution: the notion that the executive, judiciary, and legislative branches of government are co-equal. Since he initiated the war on terror, he has acted as if he was above the Constitution. He invaded Iraq on false premises, filled the American media with misleading propaganda, and ignored the modern rules of war regarding treatment of prisoners and civilians. Building upon his manufactured image as “wartime” commander-in-chief, Dubya has operated more as a despot than as the leader of a democracy. 

Evidently, Bush feels the American people pay more attention to what he says than to what he does. His speeches are filled with platitudes about democracy and liberty; according to Dubya everything the United States does in Iraq is intended to produce a model democracy. Nonetheless, the policies of the Bush administration have diminished freedom in the United States and created a police state in Iraq. 

Bush’s guiding morality is that the ends justify the means. His decisions are based solely upon considerations of power: how a particular policy will enhance his power, as well as that of the Republican Party and their wealthy supporters. Early in the Bush administration, a former policy adviser, John Dilulio, reported that every White House policy had to be approved by Karl Rove, Bush’s consigliere,; an indication that the White House strove to maximize the political consequences of every move the president made. 

Now, as Republicans struggle to find a 2008 presidential candidate, the top four contenders—Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Thompson—are running as mini-Dubyas. Giuliani and Romney, in particular, take the stance “we’re like George Bush, only smarter.” All four support the president’s ill-considered war in Iraq, but argue they would do a better job of “winning” it. 

Nonetheless, the most dire consequences of the Bush leadership style—“it’s okay to do anything, so long as you win”—has been in foreign policy. While the White House talks about spreading democracy throughout the world, what they have actually dispensed is plutocracy disguised as free-market capitalism. 

The most horrific consequences of President Bush’s style have occurred in Pakistan, where the Bush administration has steadfastly supported a dictator, General Pervez Musharraf. The White House position has been “because Pervez is our ally in the war on terror, he has carte blanche.” 

In 2002, the failed U.S. military expedition into Afghanistan did not capture Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders, but instead pushed them into the lawless territories of Pakistan. General Musharraf became the Bush administration’s point person in Central Asia: Dubya met with Musharraf, looked him in the eye, and declared him to be the right man for the job of rooting out terrorist evildoers. As a result, the United States funneled more than $10 billion in military aid to the Musharraf government. Yet, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that rather than fund anti-terrorist projects, “Pakistan has spent the bulk of it on heavy arms, aircraft and equipment that U.S. officials say are far more suited for conventional warfare with India.” Nonetheless, because General Musharraf is on Dubya’s side, the White House has ignored his draconian domestic policies. As a result, Musharraf has become an autocrat and disabled Pakistani democracy. 

General Musharraf has emulated his mentor, George Bush. Using the threat of terrorist attack as an excuse, Musharraf has expanded the powers of the presidency and curtailed civil liberties. He has adopted the Bush morality that the ends justify the means, that it is OK to circumvent democratic process as long as your objective is to defeat evildoers. In the process, Musharraf has enhanced his political power as well as that of his political party. He has become a Dubya clone. 

 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net. 

 


Wild Neighbors: Thanksgiving with the Grebes and Scoters

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Chopped fish and mealworms: not your classic Thanksgiving menu. But that’s what the eared and horned grebes at the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRCC) were getting. The larger birds—surf scoters, greater scaup, western grebes, common murres—were fed whole fish. The coots, according to a whiteboard notation, got a side of bloodworms “if we have any bloodworms.” 

I had volunteered for holiday duty (along with some 40 other people, as it turns out; the staff was hard put to find work for all of us) and had been assigned the fish-chopping detail, retrieving thawing small fish from a tub and scissoring them into diagonal chunks. I took them to be anchovies at first, but someone told me they were smelt. Not the endangered delta smelt, which is supposed to smell of cucumbers; these guys smelled unequivocally fishy. 

The IBRRC, an institution that deserves to be better known, is in Cordelia, near the 80/680 junction and the northern fringe of Suisun Marsh. Founded in Berkeley after the 1971 Oregon Standard oil spill and housed for years at Aquatic Park, it moved up here 30 years later. What the IBRCC does is the gold standard of oiled-bird care. Veterinarians and other emergency responders are here from as far away as Chile and Germany to watch the staff deal with the aftermath of the Cosco Busan spill, and to lend a hand themselves. 

Two weeks after the container ship hit the Bay Bridge, operations were winding down here. New birds were still being brought in, but only a trickle in comparison with the original flood. I found a current tally on the whiteboard in the break room: as of 10 p.m. on Nov. 21, 1,053 birds had arrived alive. Of those, 745 had been washed with Dawn detergent, and 133 had been released at Pillar Point and in Tomales Bay. Another 80 to 100 were undergoing blood testing and a veterinary check as candidates for release. A further 1,544 had been picked up dead, and were filling up the IBRCC’s freezers. 

Most of the birds awaiting evaluation and release were surf scoters, black-and-white orange-billed drakes and dark-brown ducks. There are thousands of them on San Francisco Bay this time of year; over 75 percent of the whole North American population winters locally. They’ve been hammered by contaminants in the Bay and logging and climate change on their boreal forest nesting grounds. They didn’t need to encounter 58,000 gallons of bunker oil. 

The scoters—and scaup, grebes, murres, common loons, bufflehead, and ruddy ducks—were housed in converted backyard pools, covered with netting to keep the spill victims in and opportunistic egrets and other fish-eaters out. Each pool bore a “No Diving” warning, but the birds were ignoring it. Diving, though, is what got them in trouble in the first place. All these species forage by diving for fish or mollusks from the water’s surface. Birds that make their living in other ways were less affected. 

But the spill cast a broad net. Nearly 40 species have been brought to the IBRCC, dead or alive: five species of grebes, three of loons, eight of ducks, five of gulls. There were a couple of shorebirds (black turnstone, lesser yellowlegs), a few pelagic seabirds (northern fulmar, rhinoceros auklet), even sparrows and starlings. And three raccoons, all DOA, presumably drowned while scavenging oiled bird carcasses. 

Chopping the smelt, which can become a fairly absorbing task, I was surrounded by controlled chaos. A volunteer named Sandra directed the movement of birds from pool to pen to examining station using three whiteboards and colored cardboard tags. (The next time this happens, and it will, the IBRCC may use microchips to track the traffic.) Plywood pens were being moved and sluiced down with pressure hoses. Yet another media crew, this one from a Sacramento TV station, arrived midmorning and had to be escorted around. 

Between food prep and towel folding, I got to watch a western grebe’s pre-evaluation. It was swaddled in a towel and not happy to be on the examining table. The vet took a blood sample and examined its yellow-green legs, which appeared swollen: too much time out of the water before it was rescued. It would have to stay in its pool a bit longer. Others with the right blood values and weight would get to go out. 

And I got to meet UC Davis oil spill response veterinarian Greg Massey, who, with Oiled Wildlife Care Network director Michael Ziccardi, will be trying to learn more about treating oiled birds so as to be better prepared for that inevitable next time. They’ll be looking at infrared imaging to detect which birds are losing body weight, better sanitation at the rescue center, blood analyses as more effective predictors of survival. 

If there’s a bright spot to the whole sorry Cosco Busan saga—the bungling, the flailing response, the neglect of whole stretches of badly oiled shoreline, don’t get me started—it’s what the folks at IBRCC, and its affiliated rescue centers like WildCare, are doing. There are still some heroes around. 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

A scaup drake revels in his restored waterproofing and apparent health, in a pool at the International Bird Rescue Research Center’s Cordelia facility.


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Friday November 30, 2007

FRIDAY, NOV. 30 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Man Who Saved Christmas” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Dec. 16. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553.  

Aurora Theatre Company “Sex” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 9. Tickets are $28-$50. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Playhouse “Seussical, the Musical” Thurs.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 2 p.m., Sun. at 3 pm. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Dec. 2. Tickets are $18-$23. 665-5565.  

Berkeley Rep “After the Quake” at the Trust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Dec. 21. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Black Repertory Group “A Rasin in the Sun” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St., through Dec. 14. Tickets are $10-$20. 652-2120. 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., at Contra Costa Civic Theatre, 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through Dec. 9. Tickets are $11-$18. 524-9132.  

Impact Theatre “A Very Special Money & Run Winter Season Holiday Special” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Dec. 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468.  

Masquers Playhouse “Little Mary Sunshine” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through Dec. 15. Tickets are $18. 232-4031.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Site Revamped” Paintings by Marty McCorkle and Rachel Dawson. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at the Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. 444-7411.  

“Commemorating 100 Years of the Hellenic Presence in the Bay Area” A pictoral exhibit and reception at 4 p.m. at Ascension Community Cener, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. www.ascensioncathedral.org 

“Radical Graphics of Taller Tupac Amaru” opens at 550 Second St., Jack London Square, Oakland. www.proartsgallery.org  

Touchable Stories “Richmond: The Story Continues” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 6 p.m. at Old Kaiser Cafeteria, Shipyard #3, 1303 Canal Blvd., Richmond. Cost is $6-$12. Reservations required. 619-3675. www.touchablestories.org 

“Purple Holidaze” Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Gallery Eclectix, 7523 Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito. 364-7261. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mark Wilson on “Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ross Dance Company “Speak” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Cost is $15-$20. 428-9339. www.rossdance.com 

Summer of Love Salute to benefit Berkeley Liberation Radio with the Barry “the Fish” Melton Band, the Nick Gravenites Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

Marvin Sanders, flute, Lena Lubotsky, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery 2911 Claremont Ave., at Ashby. 848-1228. 

Circus Oz “The Laughing Gravity Tour” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988.  

UC Berkeley’s The Movement Fall 2007 Showcase at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $9 at the door. ucb.movement.showcase@gmail.com 

Babtunde Lea’s “Summoning of the Ghost” Tribute to Electric Miles and Beyond at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Xile and Xocolate with Meklit Hadero from Ethiopia and MamaCoatl from Mexico at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

Terrence Brewer Quintet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Euphonia at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tom Paxton at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761.  

Kismet-Mahal at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The Flux, Frame of Mind at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Roy Haynes and Birds of a Feather at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16-$28. 238-9200. 

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Colibri at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568.  

Andy Z, imaginative musical journeys, at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

“Short Attention Span Circus” with Jean Paul Valjean Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave, off Grand Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Recent Landscape Photographs by Rob Reiter” Reception at 2 p.m. at The LightRoom Gallery, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. 

Poster Art of David Lance Goines on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sun. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

“The Art and History of Early California” opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. 

“Caalliiffoorrnniiaa Baakkeelliittee” Photographs by Richard Toronto. Reception at 5 p.m. at The Gallery at Lavezzo Designs, 5751 Horton St., Emeryville. 

Beaded Artwork from South Africa, in commemoration of World AIDS Day, on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Vital Life Services, 5720 Shattuck Ave. at 57th St., Oakland. 593-6690. 

FILM 

“The Living End” with filmmaker Gregg Araki in person at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Made In Equilibrium” works by Michele Elizabeth Lee, Brady Nadell and Ross Drago. Artist talk at 3 p.m. at ABCo Artspace, 3135 Oakland, Oakland. www.abcoartspace.com 

Anna Furtado on the second installment in her lesbian historical fiction series, “The Briarcrest Chronicles” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Book Store, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

C.S. Giscombe, Susan Gevirtz, Brian Awehali and Catherine Meng read at 2 p.m. at Small Press Distribution Open House 1341 7th St. at Gilman. 524-1668.  

Bay Area Poets Coalition open reading, 3 to 5 p.m., at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street. 527-9905.  

Poetry Flash with Susan Kelly-DeWitt and Sandra McPherson at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra “Puccini’s Messa di Gloria” at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free, donations appreciated. 

Showcase of Bay Area Chamber Music Artists from 3 to 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Piano Club, 2427 Haste St. at Dana. Free, reservations suggested. 415-820-153., www.sffcm.org 

Three Trapped Tigers with Tom Bickley and David Barnett, recorders, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Cost is $8-$12. 549-3864. 

Terry Bradford with Voena children’s choir, at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $23-$26. 925-798-1300. 

Ross Dance Company “Speak” at 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Cost is $15-$20. 428-9339. 

Erica Azim, traditional Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. Cost is $15 at the door. 548-6053.  

Mike Glendinning, guitarist, songwriter CD release party at 2 p.m. at Pri Pri Cafe, 1309 Solano, Albany. Cost is $5. Proceeds will go to the Stroke Awareness Foundation. 528-7002. 

Anton Mitzerak & Kim Lorene, world music, at 7 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Donations welcome. 528-8844. 

Gamelan Sari Raras at 7 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-4864.  

Saed Muhssin’s Arab Orchestra of San Francisco & La Peña Community Choru at 8 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568.  

Lloyd Gregory Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

“Musical Night in Africa” at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. 

Sotaque Baiano at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Katherine Peck and Michael Burles at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Ramblin Jack Elliott at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

WeBe3 with Rhiannon, Joey Blake and David Worm, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Pat Nevins and Ragged Glory at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

SUNDAY, DEC. 2 

CHILDREN 

Asheba with Women of the World at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

Poster Art of David Lance Goines on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance” with editor Victoria Zackheim, at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman introdce their graphic novel “Shooting War” at 3 p.m. at Comic Relief of Berkeley, 2026 Shattuck Ave 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra “Puccini’s Messa di Gloria” at 4:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free, donations appreciated. 

California Bach Society performs Charpentier’s “In Nativitatem Domini Canticum” at 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft at Ellsworth. Tickets are $10-$25. 415-262-0272. www.calbach.org 

Voci “Voices in Peace: VII: Winter Stillness” at 7 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20, free for children under 12. www.vocisings.com 

WomenSing Holiday Concert at 4 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$25. 925-974-9169. www.womensing.org 

“Messiah-Sing” in Baroque Style at 6 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $10, no one turned away. 525-0302. 

Savoy Family Cajun Band at 1 p.m. at Down Home Music on Fourth St. 525-2129. 

“Roots, Sass and Jazz” with Rhonda Benin, Darlene Coleman, Muziki Roberson and others at 4 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St. All ages. Tickets are $10-$15. 836-4649. www.blackmusiciansforum.org 

Laurel Ensemble with Lori Lack, piano, and Catherine Seidel, soprano, “All About Igor Stravinsky” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$15. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Classical South-Indian Dance Performance with Zavain Dar and Rebecca Whittington at 5 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 301 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $5-$7. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/23493 

Oakland East Bay Symphony “Let Us Break Bread Together” with the Oakland Symphony Chorus, Mt. Eden H.S. Choir, Kugelplex, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir at 4 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway. 625-8497. 

Twang Cafe featuring Doug Blumer and the Beer Hunters, Pam Brandon & Maurice Tani, Chickwagon, at 7:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $10. www.twangcafe.org 

Holly Near at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761. 

Junius Courtney Big Band from 3 to 6 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $15. All ages welcome. 841-JAZZ. 

Con Alma Jazztet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Girl Talk Band, world jazz, at 1:30 p.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

The Troublemakers Union, international music for human rights, at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10. 849-2568.  

Ambrose Akinmusire at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373.  

Savoy Family Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Nate Cooper at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MONDAY, DEC. 3 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Aurora Theatre Company Script Club “Born Yesterday” with Maureen McVerry and Paul Heller at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. 

“If Lost Then Found” with Kristin Lucas, artist, at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565.  

Frank Moore, poetry, at 6 p.m. at Cafe Leila, 1724 San Pablo Ave. 526-7858. 

Poetry Express with Sayre Mingan, youth poet, at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ed Neff and Friends, bluegrass, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761  

TUESDAY, DEC. 4 

CHILDREN 

The Mountain Mushers and Their Sled Dogs at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

FILM 

“Xperimental Eros” with a panel discussion at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

A Reading for “The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen” with Michael McClure, David Meltzer and Clark Coolidge at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jeffery Broussard & The Circle Cowboys at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

BirdHead at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 5 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Strictly Speaking with Azar Nafisi, author of “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $18-$30. 642-9988.  

Christopher Felver on his historical record of tbe Beat Generation, “Beat” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Thomas Lynch reads Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland City Center Holiday Concert with Klezmania at noon at 12th and Broadway, Oakland.  

Helene Attia Octet, CD release party, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Zoyres, Smyrna Time Machine at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Rovira Orquestra at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Larry Gallagher at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

THURSDAY, DEC. 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Free. 642-0808. 

FILM 

“Chaplin at the Mutual: Four Short Comedies” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Free. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with Monica de la Torre at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library, inside the Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

Peter Dale Scott reads his poems at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, Edith Stone Room, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720. 

“Jews, Chocolate and Tourism in the Diaspora” with Rabbi Deborah Prinz at 6:30 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. 549-6950. 

Monica de la Torre and Garrett Caples read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Corey Brooks reads from “Their Patriotic Duty: The Civil War Letters of the Evans Family of Brown County, Ohio” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Jazz Night and Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School with the MLK, Jr. Middle School Jazz Band, the Equanimous Jones Quartet and the Jazz School Middle School Jazz Project at 7:30 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose St. at Grant. Admission is free, but donations accepted to support the Jazz Band.  

The Claire Lynch Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Pete Madsen Quartet, CD release party, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Lindsay Tomasic at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Singer Songwriter Expose with Rodney Brillante, Rick Hardin and Audrey Howard at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Mucho Axé at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568.  


James Rosen’s ‘Homage’ at GTU Library

By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet
Friday November 30, 2007

James Rosen’s paintings at the Graduate Theological Union library are called “Homage.” They are indeed in praise of the old masters as chosen by the painter, who sees himself as a messenger, detecting his signals from the past so that he can employ his artistic talent to send them on to us, the viewers. Rosen, like all good artists, is aware that his work is part of a flow which goes back to Paleolithic times. 

His paintings are metaphors transporting meaning from one place to another. They transfer the selected works from the past to our current attention and delectation. The art he has chosen as the source of his own painting is selected largely on impulse, which itself is founded on long years of looking at art and on his work as artist and teacher. Among the painters he has honored by reassembling their work, are Giotto, Duccio, Piero della Francesca, Titian, Veronese, Chardin and Courbet. The current show at CTU includes homages to Sassetta, Poussin, Albert Pinkham Ryder as well as Gruenewald and the Master of Avignon.  

Concurrently with the show in Berkeley he has an exhibition at the Paule Anglim Gallery in San Francisco, which is based entirely on paintings by Walt Kuhn, an early 20th century modernist painter who had been responsible for finding the European artists to participate in the seminal Armory Show of 1913. Homages to Matthias Gruenewald’s Crucifixion from the Isenheim Altarpiece and the Pieta d’Avignon, painted by an unknown French artist in the middle of the 15th Century, are the centerpieces in the Berkeley exhibition. The latter, a masterpiece which I have often admired in the Louvre, shows the body of Christ, lamented by Mary , Magdalene and St.John, with the donor kneeling in prayer below the figure of St. John and an image of Jerusalem in the background.  

Rosen’s pictures, done in wax-oil emulsion are painted in a great many layers and executed over a long period of time. When the artist spoke at GTU he mentioned the inumerable strokes which he brushed onto the picture, but they are no longer visible in the finished work, which sets him in great contrast to the Action Painters who dominated the art world when he was a student.  

The complete work has a strong physical presence to which Rosen refers to as an “event.” It takes time and quiet attention to see these paintings, to allow the image to emerge gradually from the many layers of veils which the painter has used to reveal the painting by concealing it. But, gradually,the light which is embedded in the layers of paint emerges and permits us to be astonished by the work.  

 

JAMES ROSEN: HOMAGE 

Through Jan. 25 at the GTU Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, 2400 Ridge Road. 

649-2500. www.gtu.edu. 

 

Image: James Rosen’s Pieta d’Avignon.


Goines Posters on Display at Hillside Club

By Karen Jacobs, Special to the Planet
Friday November 30, 2007

See 100 posters by David Lance Goines at the Hillside Club this weekend. 

Rather than pay a museum to see art by dead artists you can see, free, great work by a living Berkeley craftsman, and meet him in a rustic building surrounded by his work. 

Like the club, the work of Goines invites you into domesticity, to hearth and home. The posters and the building often feel like a comforter. Subdued colors and soft curving images soothe the eyes - intimate and homey. 

To preview the posters go to www.goines.net. At www.hillsideclub.org view the arts & crafts clubhouse. Introduce yourself, children, guests and people new to Berkeley to a great Berkeley craftsman and a historic neighborhood club. 

Goines came to Berkeley in 1963 to study classics. Advocating free speech, he was among 800 students arrested for occupying Sproul Hall. This landed Goines, then 19, in jail. His personal account of these times is told in his compelling book, The Free Speech Movement; Coming of Age in the 1960s. 

The university reinstated Goines but he had lost his appetite for school. Apprenticing to a printer, he became a journeyman by printing radical literature. In 1970 Goines bought the business and moved it to 1703 Grove Street, later renamed Martin Luther King Junior Way. Goines still prints there because, “I have no desire to go anywhere else. This pays enough to keep soul and body together. And, I like doing it!” 

In 1968 Goines and a partner did a monthly food column in the San Francisco Express. This collaboration led to a publication, Thirty Recipes Suitable for Framing, compiled and edited by Alice Louise Waters, calligraphy and illustrations by David L. Goines. Every year his Saint Hieronymus Press makes a new poster for Waters’ restaurant, Chez Panisse. 

Goines designs posters. He prints them on his photo offset press. He prints every poster himself. Each color gets printed separately; his posters have 1 to 22 colors. As his skills evolved his work became more sophisticated, more elegant. 

Goines posters are in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Hiroshima Museum of Modern Art, the Musée de la Publicité of the Louvre in Paris and homes all over Berkeley. 

David Goines has qualities common in Berkeley. He has opinions. He has passions. He is intelligent, thorough, inventive and his own person. He is proud of being on the board of the Northern California American Red Cross. A seventeen gallon blood donor, Goines warns, “Not enough people donate blood. You never know when you will need it.” 

Six days a week Goines walks the mile from his home to his press and back again. 

Hillside Club member Bill Woodcock planned this show to celebrate 40 years of St. Hieronymus Press and the 110th anniversary of the Hillside Club. Woodcock says, “Goines is an internationally recognized craftsman for whom local recognition is long overdue. The authenticity of his work resonates well with the arts and crafts clubhouse.” 

Silicon Valley PR connector and club enthusiast Sylvia Paull says she believes that “The club has all the strains of Berkeley—community, enjoying cultural events together, being part of living history. For me it’s a spiritual place....and I’m an atheist!” 

The club began in 1898: a group of Berkeley women met to preserve nature and to promote art. Activist Annie Maybeck, incensed that the town was about to cut down a tree for Le Roy Street, near Ridge Road, campaigned to save the tree. “Annie’s Oak” was saved a century ago. Now, nearby, some people occupy a grove of oak trees, also trying to save them. 

The 1906 clubhouse, designed by Annie’s husband, Bernard Maybeck, burned in the Berkeley fire of 1923. By 1924 the clubhouse was rebuilt. The building, rarely noticed because it so thoroughly blends into the neighborhood, has long vertical windows for shafts of daylight, a massive stone fireplace and a copper lamp from the original clubhouse. 

The Hillside Club hosts many community events: cybersalons, dances, potlucks and movies. Members form groups around their interests. The Etude Club, for club members who are musicians, has been meeting and playing music together since 1904. 

Come to the Hillside Club for five minutes or an hour this weekend. Treat yourself to a relaxing, stimulating visit. You can meet members of Berkeley’s oldest community club and the club’s gracious managers, Erma Wheatley and John Feld. Consider buying a poster or joining the club. See 100 posters and meet their maker, David Lance Goines. 

 

DAVID LANCE GOINES 

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. www.goines.net.  

www.hillsideclub.org.


Jazz Drummer Roy Haines at Yoshis

By Ira Steingroot
Friday November 30, 2007

In the 1940s, jazz drummer extraordinaire Roy Haynes worked with Lester Young, Charlie Parker (“My Little Suede Shoes”), Bud Powell (“Dance of the Infidels”) and Miles Davis.  

He spent the 1950s in the company of Sarah Vaughan and Thelonious Monk. The 1960s saw him propelling the free jazz of Eric Dolphy and, while substituting for Elvin Jones in the John Coltrane Quartet, handling the sticks on the 1963 Live at Newport performance of “My Favorite Things,” arguably Trane’s greatest version of that number, not least because of Hayne’s incredibly disciplined freedom and nuanced power.  

Last November, in his 80th year, he brilliantly backed up Alice Coltrane on her final concert tour. You will not want to miss his group Birds of a Feather playing classic Parker material at Yoshi’s in Oakland through Sunday where he continues to outperform drummers one quarter his age.  

For more information, see www.yoshi’s.org. 


Moving Pictures: Early Cinema’s Grandest Spectacle

By Justin DeFreitas
Tuesday December 30, 2008 - 09:23:00 PM

Though he is often credited with more than he contributed, D.W. Griffith is undoubtedly the first of the great cinematic artists. He did not create the tools of the trade, nor invent its techniques, but he imbued them with meaning, gave significance and weight to them, and thus established the grammar of motion pictures. 

He did not invent the close-up, but he was the first to exploit its dramatic and emotional potential; he did not invent cross-cutting between different lines of action, but he further developed the technique and used it to devastating effect. In short, he took the technological novelty of the moving picture and transformed it into an art form; he elevated what was considered the lowliest of entertainments into the most powerful artistic medium of the 20th century. 

Griffith, after honing his skills with hundreds of one- and two-reel films for the Biograph company, electrified the world with The Birth of a Nation (1915), and followed it with what is still one of the most grandiose cinematic undertakings of all time, Intolerance (1916). This three-hour epic, told in four interwoven but separate episodes, gets a rare theatrical screening at the Castro Theater at 2 p.m. Saturday as part of the San Francisco Silent Festival’s annual winter program, along with a series of early Vitaphone sound films of vaudeville acts, and Flesh and the Devil (1926), the first pairing of silent-era superstars Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. Scores for the two feature films will be provided by Wurlitzer maestro Dennis James, one of the foremost practitioners of silent film accompaniment. 

Griffith sustained his grasp on motion picture dominance with a few more large-scale classics: Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), Orphans of the Storm (1921), and a string of smaller, more intimate tales such as the often overlooked True Heart Susie (1919). But though he led the charge, his brigades soon overtook him. His influence waned as his innovations unleashed a tide of experimentation and artistry that quickly subsumed him, leaving his work appearing quaint and outdated long before his productivity subsided. 

In the 1920s, this still young medium was just beginning to reach its peak. The ‘20s would become the first Golden Age of the movies before silent pictures were abruptly killed off by the advent of synchronized sound technology. Cinema was getting more and more sophisticated. The camera was beginning to move with increasing grace and fluidity; editing was fast becoming an art form unto itself; acting styles were growing more restrained and naturalistic; and the avant-garde was rapidly expanding the boundaries of the medium. 

Griffith, meanwhile, was a product of the Reconstruction-era South. His attitudes and world view had been shaped by the myths and legends of the Confederacy. In Griffith’s films, the ante-bellum South is the apotheosis of civilization, women are saintly madonna figures or conniving vamps, and African Americans are wayward children at best, devilish defilers of white womanhood at worst. His most effective work pits pastoral elegance against the dark tide of “progress”: bucolic village life threatened by the moral degradation of the city; old social orders undermined by the rise of an underclass. He may never have filmed a woman tied to the railroad tracks, but that sort of melodrama was his forte: the virtuous damsel in distress, rescued at the last minute from the heaving iron monster of industrial progress. 

It’s no wonder then that this artist of 19th century values should quickly find himself lost amid the moral ambiguity, metropolitan glamor and sexual liberation of Jazz Age America. For how could Griffith's pastoral romances compete with the bold gothic horror of Nosferatu? With the stonefaced absurdity of the universe of Buster Keaton? With the mechanized terror of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis? This was a brave new world of motion picture artistry so confident in its talent and so optimistic about its future that it simply hadn’t the time or inclination to honor its past. And Griffith had quickly come to represent the past.  

But for a few bright years, Griffith was not just at the center of the industry, he was the industry. And his artistic powers and immense popularity granted him the clout to dictate his own terms, to abandon the sure-fire box-office draw of the short-form melodrama and embark on grandiose projects with commensurate budgets.  

While racking up unprecedented box office receipts, The Birth of a Nation elicited storms of protests for its racist portrayal of African Americans. Griffith, stung by these criticisms, decided to fight back by decrying the cruelty of calls for censorship of his film. As Richard Schickel states in D.W. Griffith: An American Life, “Griffith never once...saw any reason to recant anything he had said in Birth... . No, far from being an apology, Intolerance...is a direct and bold assault on his critics and their ‘intolerance’ of his right to say what he wanted to say.”  

The film originated even before Birth of a Nation, as a simpler film called The Mother and the Law. But after the phenomenal success of Birth, Griffith knew he couldn’t return to small-scale filmmaking, that he had to uphold his reputation for spectacle. After seeing Cabiria, a feature-length Italian film with huge sets and dynamic camerawork, Griffith began to expand his tale, adding other episodes. And while visiting San Francisco to research prison conditions at the city jail and at San Quentin for his film’s modern story line, Griffith found inspiration for the Babylonian sequence in the architectural wonders of the San Francisco Exhibition of 1915. He had not only found a project to combat his critics, he had discovered a way to compete with the Italian epics. He hired the San Francisco workers to construct monumental sets on a size and scale previously unseen in the village of Hollywood.  

It is these sets from the Babylonian sequence that would provide the film with its iconic image. Griffith and cameraman G.W. Bitzer mounted the camera on an elevator that dollied forth along tracks, the platform lowering as it pushed forward, producing a slow, sweeping zoom that captures the vastness of the set while gracefully pulling in tighter on the spectacle and human drama contained within. 

Yet what he was up to was still a mystery to his colleagues. There was no script; it was all in his head. The project was growing ever larger as he worked. The final film contains four episodes: the death of Christ; the fall of Babylon; the massacre of the Huguenots, and a contemporary drama that questions the morality of the death penalty. The four stories are told concurrently, melding together in the end for a dizzying 30-minute sequence in which Griffith crosscuts rapidly between them. And it is here that the Southern gentleman brings his passion for melodrama together with the cutting-edge sensibilities of the avant-garde in the creation of his boldest achievement. 

 

INTOLERANCE (1916) 

Showing at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Castro Theater as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s winter program. Vitaphone sound shorts (1926-1930) screen at 11 a.m. Flesh and the Devil (1926) screens at 8 p.m. www.silentfilm.org. 429 Castro Street, San Francisco. (415) 621-6120. 

 

Image: The signature shot of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, in which the camera slowly angles down and toward the vast Babylonian set.


Moving Pictures: 'True Heart Susie' Shows Griffith's Softer Side

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

D.W. Griffith is known these days primarily for his large-scale epics Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). And while these films contributed greatly to the history and art of motion pictures, they do not fully convey the range and power of Griffith's talent, nor are they his most enjoyable films. 

Some of his most satisfying work was done a much smaller scale. Some of the short films he made for the Biograph company prior to Birth of a Nation are among his best work, like tales in miniature told with deft skill and economy. And some of his less grandiose features are more heartfelt, more sincere, and far less bombastic than the epic crowd-pleasers on which his reputation rests today. 

True Heart Susie (1919) is one of a series of films Griffith referred to as his "short story" pictures. It is a small, gentle film, one of the director's pastoral romances in which he celebrates with warmth and nostalgia the sort of rural village life in which he was raised. The film has just been released on DVD by Image Entertainment in an excellent transfer produced by David Shepard. 

Lillian Gish plays a country lass, a plain girl in love with the boy (Robert Harron) across the way. When his father denies him the chance to go to college, Susie quietly sells her cow and a few other belongings to anonymously pay the boy's tuition. But when he returns from college to become the village teacher, he is seduced by and marries another girl in the village, a wild one of questionable sincerity.  

The plot becomes a bit contrived from there, as Griffith does everything he can to ensure that, through no fault of the boy or Susie, the vampish wife is taken ill and dies as two secrets come to light: the wife had concealed transgressions against the husband, and Susie was in fact the boy's true benefactor. Thus Griffith's 19th century morals are conveniently kept intact as he reunites his two saintly characters while focusing all blame on the vamp. 

But this is in part what makes the film so engaging. It's a simple tale, with simple plot points and simple emotions. And Lillian Gish handles the role beautifully. For viewers not familiar with Gish, the performance may seem a bit odd, for Gish is in a sense playing with her own screen image, gently chiding the simple girlish role she has been given on the one hand, yet delivering wonderfully understated emotions scenes on the other.  

While epic dramas full of action and showmanship may have satisfied Griffith's ego, it is the smaller films like True Heart Susie that reveal the true soul of the director—his warmth, his sentimentality, his reverence or a 19th century vision of female purity, and his passion for the everyday drama of everyday life.  

The disc comes with a bonus feature, Hoodoo Ann (1916), a Griffith-supervised light comedy which he wrote under a pseudonym.  

 

True Heart Susie 

Directed by D.W. Griffith.  

Starring Lillian Gish, Robert Harron. 

Image Entertainment, $24.99. 

www.image-entertainment.com


Moving Pictures: The Movie Heard ‘Round the World

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

The great thing about DVD is that it has given the major studios the opportunity to finally do right by the classics in their archives. For the first six or seven years of the format’s existence, the studios were, for the most part, content to simply reissue their back catalogues in cheap editions, often without any attempt to remaster the image.  

But over the past few years, as box-office receipts have declined, studio bosses finally seem to be coming around to the reality that if these films are going to survive and be seen, they will be seen in the home, and thus it pays to provide definitive editions that will endure. 

Thus Warner Bros. has just released a lavish boxed-set edition of the film that put the studio on the map back in 1927. The Jazz Singer almost single-handedly ended the silent era and launched Hollywood on whole new trajectory. 

D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation ushered the art form into its maturity in 1915, kicking off the first great era of motion picture innovation and achievement; The Jazz Singer brought the great cinematic decade of the 1920s to a close, halting the entire medium in its tracks for a couple of years as filmmakers struggled to harness and master the new sound technology.  

One of the unfortunate aspects of these two cinematic milestones is that they are both marred by racism, a fact that greatly obscures their legacies. In 1999 the Directors Guild of America changed the name of its highest award, which since 1953 had been named for Griffith, in light of the stereotypes perpetuated in his most famous film. And The Jazz Singer, though widely known by name, is rarely seen today. 

The fact is, The Jazz Singer isn’t that good a film anyway. Important, yes, and largely misunderstood, but not good. It’s really a silent film, with just a handful of sound sequences, most consisting of the ever-energetic Al Jolson singing and sweating and dancing, often in blackface. The combination of silence and sound proves an awkward hybrid at best. 

The legend says that it was Jolson’s singing that drove a stake into the heart of silent film, but the truth is both more subtle and more interesting. Audiences had experienced sound pictures before, usually in the form of musical interludes, but these were of such crude quality that the innovation didn’t stick; the clumsiness of the available technologies only intruded on the dream-like quality of silent film. What startled audiences of The Jazz Singer and got them hooked on sound was a few improvised minutes of dialogue. Jolson, seated at the piano, finishes a song, turns to his mother and engages in some insignificant patter. The off-hand nature of the exchange gave the illusion that the audience was eavesdropping on a real-life moment, and it was that sense of intimacy and verisimilitude that truly launched the sound era.  

Sound had been a huge gamble for Warner Bros. At the time, the studio was at the bottom of the heap and desperate to climb to the top. So they took a chance on sound and came up with the hit they so desperately needed. Their success sent them to the forefront of the industry, with all the other studios playing catch-up. The new medium brought with it a host of technical problems—satirized with great accuracy in Singin’ in the Rain (1950)—leading to a period of static, stage-bound films with little artistic merit. As stated in The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk, an excellent documentary included in the set, it seemed that audiences preferred mediocre sound films to great silent films. 

The new three-disc set includes a wealth of material placing the film in its proper historical context, including commentary by film historians Ron Hutchinson and Vince Giordano; short films of Jolson from the era; The Dawn of Sound, which provides a great overview of the advent of synchronized sound, the impact of The Jazz Singer, and the demise of the silent film; and a full disc of Vitaphone sound shorts, films of Vaudeville acts of the 1920s. These films may be quaint, static and strange by modern standards, but they provide a valuable and rare historical record of the sort of entertainment that movies replaced, and to which The Jazz Singer pays tribute. 

 

THE JAZZ SINGER 

(1927) 

Three-disc set featuring commentary, documentary and Vitaphone sound films of Vaudeville acts. $39.95.


Moving Pictures: The Talkies Learn to Move: Pabst's 'Threepenny Opera'

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

When Bertolt Brecht and G.W. Pabst decided to collaborate in bringing the former's Threepenny Opera to the screen, both men were at the peak of their careers. But the collaboration would be anything but smooth. Indeed it was fraught with conflict, as so many Brecht projects were.  

The film has just been released on DVD by Criterion in a two-disc edition that features a beautiful transfer of the German film along with a host of features, including commentary by film scholars David Bathrick and Eric Rentschler, the French version of the film, and a documentary and essay on the adaptation from stage to screen. 

Brecht drafted the original screenplay, but delivered something far different than he was asked for. Rather than simply bringing the original play to the screen, he drastically altered it, adding and removing scenes, rearranging the structure, and greatly altering the content and focus of the tale.  

Brecht had already clashed with composer Kurt Weill over the play itself, each man claiming credit for the production's success. Now he clashed with Pabst, who took Brecht's script and bent it to his own aims. But as Bathrick and Rentschler point out in the disc's commentary track, the two men may not have been so far apart as they claimed. Each was perhaps reluctant to credit the other with the film's better qualities and reserved the right to scapegoat the other should the critics be unkind. 

Shortchanged by the film, however, is Kurt Weill, for few of his compositions made it onto the screen. 

The final product, though it may bear relatively little resemblance to the stage production, is an excellent film and a milestone of early sound cinema. Pabst often replaces scenes of dialogue with imagery, with long gazes, with near-silent shots in which the actors convey the plot without words. And at a time when the camera had been rendered almost stagnant by cumbersome sound equipment, Pabst's camera roams through the sets with fluidity and ease. If the camerawork at times seem similar to Fritz Lang's M, released that same year, there is good reason: Both films were shot by legendary cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner. 

There are other similarities between the two films. Both examine the criminal underworld, and do so with a blend of humor, intrigue and distaste. And both feature wonderfully sustained sequences of cat-and-mouse amid the squalid streets. One image in Threepenny Opera is especially striking: One of Mack the Knife's henchmen has stolen an armchair and is running through the streets with police in pursuit. He crosses a courtyard, invisible beneath the chair, looking like an ant carrying its booty back to the nest. He scurries across the courtyard and out of view, only to appear again with the police right behind him, firing bullets into the upholstery. 

In America, the reaction to synchronized sound technology had been extreme. The first couple of years worth of American sound films were filled with wall-to-wall talk; the audience was rarely given a break from the endless chatter of showgirls and dandy men about town. It seemed everyone was a wit, armed with a ready punchline for every situation. In Germany, by contrast, sound was being used more judiciously and with greater sophistication. Filmmakers like Pabst and Lang did not give up the virtues of the more image-focused cinema of silent pictures. Rather than treating sound as an end in itself, they used it as a means to an end, as another tool in the creation of compelling cinema. Sound was used as atmosphere, or fused into the story as a plot point, and often employed in one sequence merely to draw greater attention to the silence of another sequence. 

The result is a film of richness and depth, with sound and image combining in the creation of a sharply rendered underworld. The words of Brecht, the music of Weill, the images of Pabst and Wagner — a fruitful collaboration of some of Germany's greatest talents. 

 

Threepenny Opera 

Directed by G.W. Pabst 

Criterion Collection, $39.95. 

www.criterion.com


Lorna K. to Record First CD Live At San Francisco’s Plush Room

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday November 30, 2007

Vocalist and Berkeley resident Lorna Kollmeyer—Lorna K. to her many Bay Area fans—is topping off her 15-year “overnight success” career of singing the American songbook with a live recording session for her first CD at the Plush Room in San Francisco Monday evening, Dec. 3. 

Titled In My Room, her CD will feature songs by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, “along with ‘Nature Boy,’ and two French numbers inspired by Petula Clark,” said Kollmeyer. “I grew up in L.A.’s South Bay area, not far from the Beach Boys, and have been integrating their songs into my repertoire the past couple of years, interpreting them in a jazz idiom. They belong in the American songbook along with Gershwin and Rodgers and Hart—as Leonard Bernstein also believed.” 

Kollmeyer, who took up Afro-Cuban conga drumming in the mid-’80s, began singing after meeting guitarist Ned Boynton, her first husband, and playing for his indie rock group out of Oakland, The Bunyups. “My first exposure to jazz was sitting in with Ned’s combo on Latin numbers,” Kollmeyer recalled, “and listening to Ella and Sarah in his record collection—then hearing Paula West when some friends hired us to back her up at a party.” 

She has attracted a large, loyal fan base from her remarkable sense of contact with her audience and constant enriching of her repertoire. “I wasn’t inspired till now to record,” she said, “But I’ve found my voice doing covers of these tunes, and am finally in the realm where I’m comfortable with my improvisational skills enough to honor a song yet do something different with it, make you want to listen to it.”  

Much of her performing has been in the city, at Enrico’s and Shanghai 1930, but Lorna K. has performed at Downtown in Berkeley—and her band, The Dunes, is all Berkeley High graduates: Greg Sankovich, piano; Tom Griesser, saxophone; Kurt Ribak, bass; Bryan Bowman, drums. The Plush Room gig will be one of the last for that important cabaret venue; after New Year’s, Rrazz Productions, which handles Kollmeyer, will relocate to the Nikko Hotel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


East Bay: Then and Now: North Gables: Early Exemplar of Equal Opportunity Housing

By Daniella Thompson
Friday November 30, 2007

In 1948, University of California enrollment at the Berkeley campus reached 22,000 students, making adequate housing the number-one problem facing the student body. That year, the California Alumni Association published the book Students at Berkeley, which contained a large chapter devoted to housing and analyzed potential student housing sites. 

The Northside was judged unsuitable for student housing owing to “very unfavorable topography” and “remoteness from the center of student activities.” Older buildings—the Victorians and Colonial Revivals now prized as historic resources—were also deemed inadequate for student habitation. 

As an example of “adaptation of old and unsuitable buildings,” the book displayed two photos of Victorians, one of which was the North Gables boarding house at 2531 Ridge Road. The 19th-century houses were unfavorably compared with the university-owned Stern Hall, built in 1942. 

The 1962 Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP) for the campus proposed new university buildings to be constructed on four Northside city blocks facing the campus between Highland Place and Scenic Avenue. Existing structures—public or private—were to be demolished, including the historic Cloyne Court Hotel, North Gate Hall, and Drawing Building, all designed by John Galen Howard, and the former Beta Theta Pi chapter house, designed by Ernest Coxhead. 

On the Southside, the housing development suggested by the Alumni Association dictated a radically clean sweep of the twenty city blocks between College Avenue, Bancroft Way, Fulton Street, and Dwight Way, retaining only “institutions of quasi-public and social character” and the Telegraph Avenue-Bancroft Way business district. The rest was to be occupied by “elevator-type living centers” with “generous open space for recreation and amenity.” 

Miraculously, the sweep wasn’t quite as radical as intended, and many historic buildings on both sides of the campus were spared. On the Northside, Cloyne Court Hotel, North Gate Hall, the Drawing Building, Beta Theta Pi, and many pre-1923 residences were eventually designated as landmarks. The Victorian at 2531 Ridge Road—for which a landmark application was never written owing to insufficient information—not only survived but continues to house students. 

This charming, turreted house, now divided into six apartments, was one of the earliest homes built in the Daley’s Scenic Park tract. The first improvement on the site was recorded in 1892, and by the following year it had more than doubled. After passing through two owners in as many years, the property was acquired by one William Fisher, who may have briefly lived in the house but never long enough to be listed in the Berkeley directory. 

Next door, at 2527 Ridge Road, another Victorian went up at the same time. This house was acquired by James and Margaret Pierce, who lived in it until 1904, when they became managers of the newly completed Cloyne Court Hotel and sold their home to the Swiss vice-consul, John Freuler. Until the mid-1910s, Strawberry Creek ran in its natural channel across the back yards of both houses. 

Unlike its next-door neighbor, 2531 Ridge Road was always occupied by renters. Beginning in 1899, it was the home of Mrs. Annie E. Benson, a 65-year old widow from Pennsylvania. In the 1900 U.S. census, Mrs. Benson listed her occupation as Landlady. This in itself was not remarkable, but the 1900 census revealed two facts about Mrs. Benson that were remarkable indeed. For one, her race was listed as Black, making Annie Benson the only African-American head of household on the Northside. The one other person listed as Black in the neighborhood at the time was a domestic living in the household of her employers. (Five other persons—the wife and four children of realtor Herman Murphy—were also listed as Black in 1900; however, all subsequent census records marked them as White.) 

The second revelation about Mrs. Benson is even more interesting. In 1900, her tenants at 2531 Ridge Road were Austin and Ethel Lewis and their three children. 

Attorney, writer, socialist, and civil libertarian, Austin Lewis (1865–1944) was a highly visible figure in his day. Born in England, he immigrated to the United States in 1890 with his parents and siblings. The family arrived in Berkeley circa 1898 and established the private Glenholm School in their home on the corner of Shattuck Ave. and Berryman Street, at the current entrance to Live Oak Park. 

Why Austin Lewis, who was practicing law in San Francisco, chose to leave the family home and move into a rental on Ridge Road is not apparent, unless he did so expressly to help Annie Benson. 

Lewis was a tireless activist and lecturer in support of labor and women’s suffrage. Shortly after his arrival in Berkeley, Lewis published a series of books on socialism. The first was a translation of Friedrich Engels’ Feuerbach: The Roots of the Socialist Philosophy (1903), followed by his own The Church and Socialism (1906), The Rise of the American Proletarian (1907), The Militant Proletariat (c. 1911), and Proletarian and Petit-Bourgeois (1910s). 

In 1901, Berkeley gained another socialist in the figure of future mayor J. Stitt Wilson (1868–1942), a former Methodist Episcopal minister turned lecturer, who in 1903 bought a Maybeck-designed house on Highland Place, two blocks to the east of the Benson-Lewis household. The house—built in 1896 and destroyed in 1956—is known to architectural historians as the Laura G. Hall House, but considering that Ms. Hall occupied it for no more than a year, while Stitt Wilson owned it for several decades, it might be more appropriate to name it after him. 

Like Lewis, Wilson published socialist tracts, including The Message of Socialism to the Church and The Impending Social Revolution, or The Labor Problem Solved (both in 1904). Unlike Lewis, Wilson was obliged to publish them at his own expense. 

Lewis and Wilson were the two luminaries of the Socialist Party, and both ran in California gubernatorial races on their party’s ticket. In 1906, Lewis garnered 5.1% of the votes in a four-way race won by Republican James N. Gillett. Four years later, Wilson collected 12.4% of the votes in a three-way race won by Republican Hiram W. Johnson. Lewis, who ran for the U.S. Congress from the Fourth District that year, came in third behind the Republican and Democratic candidates. 

As friend, mentor, and sometime lawyer to a large coterie of writers and poets, Austin Lewis counted Jack London, Herman Whitaker, and George Sterling in his circle. Influenced by Lewis, London wrote The Iron Heel, a dystopian novel set in the future and depicting the triumph of capital over socialism. 

In September 1909, Lewis was one of 25 literary figures who organized the Press Club of Alameda, which would evolve into the California Writers’ Club. At the time, the club was the only California organization of its kind to include both men and women members. Lewis was elected as the club’s first president. 

Among the causes that engaged Lewis’s interest were the efforts to free Tom Mooney and Warren Billings—two labor leaders falsely accused of planting a bomb in a 1916 San Francisco parade—and to repeal California’s criminal syndicalism law, which classified dissident speech as a felony punishable by imprisonment. 

The Lewis family stayed at 2531 Ridge Road only briefly. By 1901 they had moved to 3108 Harper Street, and two years later they decamped for Oakland, where they lived at 3103 Stuart Street (in 1927, Highland Hospital would be built across the street from their house). Annie Benson, now listed in the directories as a cook, continued living at the Ridge Road house until 1904, when she moved to 1536 Shattuck Avenue. Her new house stood on the site now occupied by the parking lot between the French Hotel and Bank of America. 

While the Swiss vice-consul was living next door, 2531 Ridge Road became the home of William O’Brien, a blacksmith. In 1919, the house was taken over by Edna G. White (1884–1957), a former school teacher from Illinois, who established in it a boarding house for female students. She called it North Gables. 

North Gables was run along the lines of a co-operative. Residents paid $25 a month ($30 in the ’40s) for room and board, supplementing their rent payments with five weekly hours of work that included cleaning, cooking, serving, dish washing, gardening, and repair. About a quarter of the thirty lodgers worked an additional two hours a day and lived rent-free. 

Like all such living accommodations, North Gables required the approval of the Dean of Women and underwent regular inspections. During the 1920s, it was expanded fore and aft—the front façade, which had originally featured a polygonal window bay in the southeast corner and a small entrance porch at the southwest, gained a deep porch running across its entire length, with a sleeping porch above it. 

North Gables weathered the Depression and World War II, enabling a great many girls of slender means to obtain university education. The boarding house ceased operation in 1949, after Miss White’s health deteriorated. The building has since passed through many hands and was eventually converted into apartments. Its former next-door neighbor is long since gone, having made way for the Hotel Slocum, now known as the Stebbins Hall co-op, named after Dean of Women Lucy Ward Stebbins, who in 1933 awarded North Gables third-place honors for scholarship. 

 

 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

 

Photograph: Daniella Thompson  

2531 Ridge Road, built in 1892, is one of the oldest buildings on the Northside. 


Garden Variety: Shopping for the Gardener On Your List, Part 1

By Ron Sullivan
Friday November 30, 2007

It’s post-Thanksgiving: socially, it’s December. Time to think about holiday shopping.  

Sure, some people have got all their gift-shopping done, either in mid-July or in last year’s post-holiday sales. They have more storage space than anyone I know, and/or they lack the true Spirit of the Wild Hunt. (You didn’t think the Wal-Mart frenzy had anything to do with that newfangled Christ guy, did you?) The rest of us are just now getting into gear. 

If you have a gardener to shop for, it shouldn’t be too hard. First: You have live stuff to consider. There are seeds, late bulbs, and plants for the garden and house all over the place. In this season an indoor plant is a good idea; there’s no need to worry about late freezes and it’s always good to have one more bit of green living at one’s elbow to make the wait for Spring easier.  

For elegant and practical gifts, go browse at Hida Tool and Hardware. Be prepared to walk sideways, because the shop is tiny and full of good stuff. Sometimes you can find things you never knew you (or your giftee) needed, like cuffs that cover the arm just above glove level, for working on junipers or roses or any prickly plant. They look all superhero-cool too.  

Check out the long-reach pruners, the various hoes and weeders, the incomparable saws, the irreplaceable hori-hori trowel/knives. My personal art-object favorite is the right- or left-handed one-side-beveled grafting knife. This is one piece of shaped metal with a wicker wrap around the handle for a Neolithic look, which would make it retro even if it’s a 500-year-old design.  

Hida doesn’t sell Felco brand pruning shears, oddly enough. Sure, Felcos are a Swiss brand, but where’s the International Luv?  

If you really really love your gardener, consider a pair of Felcos as a present even if she or he already had one. I’m saying this as a multiple-Felco owner, despite one of the major advantage of the brand: You’ll never have to buy another pair because every part is replaceable. Mostly it’s a new cutting blade that’s needed, and that only after several years’ resharpening.  

Felcos ain’t cheap but they’re a good investment. You might spend $50 to $75 on a pair, but those replacement blades cost less than $10 and they make the old pair feel brand-new.  

A sharpener for the blade is a good lagniappe—giving the shears a lick or two before every job, rather like steeling a kitchen knife, makes work a pleasure and a sharp blade is better for the plants you’re pruning too. I have a simple pair of flat diamond files that I’ve almost worn out after 20 years. They cost under $10 together and take up very little pocket space.  

The rub is this: It’s hard to surprise your gift-getter with Felcos because they really ought to be tried on first. There are 14 models, to fit all sorts of hands (including left ones) and uses. I use #8—in case some Felco Fairy would care to visit me.  

 

Next week: more gift ideas. 

 

 

Felcos:  

Hida Tool and Hardware Company 

1333 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley  

(510) 524-3700 or (800) 443-5512 

http://www.hidatool.com 

9:00 a.m.. - 6:00 p.m. Monday—Satuday  

Closed Sunday 

 

Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts  

2904 College Avenue, Berkeley  

(510) 704-8222 

Mon—Wed 10 a.m.—7 p.m. 

Thurs—Sat 10 a.m.—9 pmm. 

Sunday noon—6 p.m. 

http://www.mrsdalloways.com 

 

Also try the nearest hardware, nursery, or garden store, e.g.Yabusaki’s Dwight Way Nursery, East Bay Nursery, Berkeley Horticultural Nursery. 

 

Online: http://www.felcostore.com 


About the House: A Resident’s Guide to Our Mushy Landscape

By Matt Cantor
Friday November 30, 2007

Welcome to my watershed. I really like it here but it is, basically, a big clay bowl and we’re all salad. 

Some of us get lucky by being up on the edge of the bowl or on one of the ridges on the inside, but most of are not and so it gets wet under our houses. 

This image is intentionally over the top but I want to get you started thinking about this in a larger context. We are in a watershed filled with creeks, springs, aquifers and culverted water-ways. If you put clay soils on top of this system of waterways, you can imagine that you end up with something like your first experience on the potter’s wheel. Everything is slippery and it’s hard to maintain a rigid or fixed form. 

You might imagine that it’s rather hard for a house to remain truly rectilinear, plumb and square when resting on this sort of thing. Add to this the fact that many houses were built on “filled” soils that were brought to the site to create a level surface (or because it was cheaper than hauling off the excess soil from local works such road building) and it’s easy to understand why these houses are so wracked and warped. The filled soils may have seemed stable when they were first installed but the loading of many tons of house combined with a few good rains and, voila, you’ve got Trouble (right here in River City!). 

“Filled” soils compact under load or when water is added and many houses have “differential” settlement (one area has settled more than another) that is attributable, in part, to this effect. 

When contractors started building here in the 1800s, they didn’t pay drainage or soils issues much heed and so many of the houses built up through the early 1900s have settlement which stems from these oversights. By 1940, foundations got much stronger and so could “bridge” over soft spots without settlement to a much greater degree. We also observed better site preparation beginning in this time period and the avoidance of filled soils was one such improvement. 

In short, the soils conditions we find locally (and in many other parts of the globe) require that buildings be able to withstand a certain amount of earth movement and poor drainage. 

Many of these issues are hard to resolve without great sums of cash. However, there is one factor in this scenario that is, at least somewhat, manageable and that is the water. 

Wet soils move more than dry soils.  

We can’t really change the soil we’re on (well you can but, boy, it’s really expensive) but you can keep it dryer. There’s no perfect drainage system but if we endeavor to keep the soil below our houses dry we can slow the movement quite a bit and have more stable, less weirdly shaped homes. 

If you’re on a hillside you have a more complex problem, although your water issue may not be as bad as some that I see in flatter areas. 

If your crouton is located on the side of the salad bowl, it’s working it’s way slowly to the bottom of the bowl. Add more dressing, it will get there faster. If your crouton is on the bottom of the bowl, it’s not moving so fast, although it may be sitting in too much Balsamic Vinaigrette. 

As water softens the soils below hillside homes, they will tend to move downhill more rapidly than they will when they’re dry. Those of us who get to live in the hills are, therefore, living in mobile-homes. Gravity not only pulls our houses downhill, it also applies force “differentially” and many hillside homes show separations or cracks that result from different parts of the house moving in different direction and/or at different rates. 

One cause of differential settlement is that the wetting of soils is never uniform. Even if the soils you rest upon are completely homogenous, they will not be getting wet in a uniform manner because water flows in funny and surprising ways, although some aspects of this are predictable. For example, water will flow down against the back of your house (if your house faces downhill), creating wetter soils there. This can make the back wall settle more than the rest. 

The result of uneven wetting is, often, uneven settlement. As I’ve indicated, this is more true with early foundation than with modern ones due to their breadth and strength. 

There also may be harder soil beneath some parts of your house and regardless of wetting, that part might always be held aloft while other parts drop away. 

Settlement can occur just as easily on soils of uniform strength when some parts are kept much dryer than others. Often the middle of the house is staying dryer and does not settle as much as the edges which are wetted to a greater degree. This is not consistent, though, since some houses have deep portion near the middle (especially hillside homes which are cut away for basements or garages). These houses often exhibit the reverse effect with the middle settling faster than the rest because the middle supports rest upon wetter soils in a depression that holds water. 

Just to make matters all the more confusing, our local clay bed has the disconcerting propensity to rise and fall as it wets and dries. Expansive clay soils will push houses upward as they get wet (because the clay takes on water and holds it) and then lower these structures down as they dry out. This is sometimes referred to as “clay-jacking.” 

This turns out to be a locomotive process when you add gravity. Hillside homes are driven downhill very slowly because every time they rise and fall, they get pushed a little further downhill. 

At this point I feel obliged to stop the drama and say that most of the houses I see are not being affected by these forces enough to require any significant repair. Few houses remain truly square after 6 or 8 decades of being subjected to these effects but, in most cases, these changes can be spackled and ignored. 

So, let’s review. You’re living in a crouton on the side of a bowl of Caesar. 

Remember to ask for the dressing on the side. 

Next time, I’ll explain about how to do that and the solution is French (the drain, not the dressing). 


Berkeley This Week

Friday November 30, 2007

FRIDAY, NOV. 30 

“The Camden 28” a documentary on the nonviolent antiwar resistors who were arrested in the summer of 1971 for the break-in at the Camden NJ draft board, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, Sacramento & Cedar. 923-1853. 

East Bay Paratransit A community meeting with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock at 1 p.m. at North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, entrance at parking lot at 58th St., Oakland. 559-1406. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read “Hamlet” and other plays based on the classic, at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6121. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Donald H. Blevins, Chief Probation Officer, Alameda County, “How the Alameda County Probation System Serves its Citizens” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 

Native American Pow Wow with drumming, dancing, Native American crafts and foods, and activities for children, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sun. from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Laney College Gymnasium, 900 Fallon St. at 10th, Oakland. Benefits American Indian Child Resource Center. 208-1870, ext. 310. 

Spinning a Yarn Listen to fairy tales inpired by spinners and watch the spinning wheel turn at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Alternative Gift Market, with gifts that can change the world - medical supplies for Darfur, reforestation in Haiti, or shelter for our neighbors here in the East Bay, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. 236-4348. 

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant’s Crafts Fair with world crafts and art from Africa, Central America, Haiti, Palestine, Afghanistan and Tibet, Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana.  

California College of the Arts Holiday Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oliver Art Center, CCA’s Oakland campus, 5212 Broadway, at College Ave.  

Berkeley Artisans Open Studios Sat and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Dec. 16. 845-2612. www.berkeleyartisans.com 

Richmond Art Center Holiday Art Festival with art and craft sale, hands-on art activities for children and silent auction, from noon to 5 p.m. at 2540 Barrett Ave., at 25th St., Richmond. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

Alameda Artists Holiday Open Studios Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A map of open studios is available at www.ci.alameda.ca.us/arpd 

Masala Artist Collective Holiday Bazaar from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Swarm Gallery, 560 Second St., Oakland. 654-9180. 

Small Press Distribution Holiday Open House with a book sale and readings from noon to 4 p.m. at 1341 7th St. at Gilman. 524-1668.  

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library Holiday Book Sale with books, pamphlets, and more, at 10 a.m. 595-7417. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of “The Hillside School” Built in 1925 by Walter Ratcliff, led by Kay Dolit and Carolyn Adams. Walk is from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. To register and for information on meeting place call 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/ 

Plant Natives on Berkeley Paths Join Friends of Five Creeks and Berkeley Path Wanderers to plant natives along pathways in the Upper Codornices Creek watershed. Call to RSVP. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Weed-Pull on the Bay Trail Help remove broom, fennel and ice plant from 10 a.m. on, at Pt. Isabel, Rydin Road, off Central Ave. Richmond. Please bring gloves if you have them, water, some lunch, hats, and sun block. 

Walk the Upper Claremont with Berkeley Path Wanderers Explore history, trails, and hidden open spaces in the upper Claremont area on a Berkeley Path Wanderers Association walk. Meet at 10 a.m. at Peet’s Coffee, 2916 Domingo. 849-1969. www.berkeleypaths.org 

French Broom Removal Volunteers needed to remove the broom in Redwood Regional Park. We provide the tools. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Skyline Gate staging area, 8500 Skyline Blvd. 812-8265. 

Fungus Fair: A Celebration of Wild Mushrooms Explore the mysteries of the mushroom, with exhibits, slidetalks, mushroom marketplace, tasty mushroom soup for sale, and hands-on fungus fun for the whole family, Sat. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Book Drive for West County Reads Bring your book donations to Jenny K at 6927 Stockton Ave. and Well Grounded Coffee and Tea, 6925 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito, Sat. and Sun. between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. www.westcountyreads.org  

“Sowing Seeds” Humane Education Workshop for teachers and advocates for social justice and environmental preservation, Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sun. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 240 Mulford, UC Campus. Registration is $125, students $35. Financial aid available. sowingseeds@HumanEducation.org 

Behind the Scenes at Pixar Animation Studios Benefit for the Emery Ed Fund at 11 a.m. at Pixar Animation Studios, 1200 Park Ave., Emeryville. Tickets are $100 and up. 601-4911. 

Political Affairs Readers Group “Class Struggle in a Socialist Market Economy” A discussion at 10 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Sponsored by the Communist Party USA, Oakland Berkeley Branch. Articles available at www.politicalaffairs.com 

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, DEC. 2 

Oak Grove Tree-Sit One Year Anniversary from noon to 6 p.m. at Memorial Oak Grove, Piedmont Ave. just north of Bancroft. Berkeley Grandmothers for the Oaks request that non-perishable food and water in 1 to 5-gal. jugs be brought to the tree sitters at 2 p.m. 938-2109. www.saveoaks.com 

The Before Columbus Foundation announces the winners of the 27th Annual American Book Awards at 4 p.m. at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St. Free and open to the public. 228-6775. 

22nd Annual Holiday Appeal for Class-War Prisoners from 3 to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita Ave. at Cedar. Cost is $5-$10. 839-0852. 

Making Natural Holiday Wreaths Learn about fir, bay and other flora and how to use them, from noon to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Please bring a pair of small hand-clippers, a large flat box and a bag lunch. Not appropriate for children under 8. Cost of $25-$34. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Berkeley Artisans Open Studios from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Dec. 16. 845-2612.  

Richmond Art Center Holiday Arts Festival with arts and crafts, silent auction, children’s art activities from noon to 5 p.m. at 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. 

Albany Holiday Art Show and Sale, with watercolors, drawings, paintings and etchings, acrylic paintings, cards, bookmarks and more, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 559-7226. 

Masala Artist Collective Holiday Bazaar from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Swarm Gallery, 560 Second St., Oakland. 654-9180. 

Berkeley Green Party meets at 7 p.m. at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St., with a special guest, food and drinks, and planning action for 2008. www.berkeleygreens.org  

Old Time Radio East Bay Collectors and listeners gather to enjoy shows together at 5 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. For more information email DavidinBerkeley at Yahoo.com. 

“Using Filters in Photoshop” with Don Melandry, photoimager, at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107.  

Cool Schools Warming Campaign for middle and high school students to learn how to take action against global warming in their schools and communities, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the College and Career Center, Berkeley High School, 1980 Allston Way, at Milvia. RSVP to 704-4030. chicory@earthteam.net 

“The Cross-Walk Walk” for war resistance, every Sun. at noon at the corner of Solano and San Pablo. Bring signs, ideas, young people. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker on “Are We Ready for the Truth?” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000  

MONDAY, DEC. 3 

“Protecting North Richmond Wetlands” with Rich Walkling of Natural Heritage Institute at 7 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin at Masonic. Free. 848-9358.  

TUESDAY, DEC. 4 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Point Pinole. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. 

Tai Chi for Peace at 1:30 p.m. in front of the Marine Recruiting Station, Shattuck Square. Open Sidewalk Studios at 3 p.m. 524-2776. 

“Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita” A doumetary on the work of Dr. Jack Kessler at 6:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. 

“Hiking the Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia” A slide presentation with Treve Johnson at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

“A Japanese Religion in Brazilian Religious Milieu: How Brazilians have accepted the Church of World Messianity” with Prof. Hideaki Matsuoka, Shukutoku Univ., at 6:30 p.m. at Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. 809-1444. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Train Week at Habitot Children’s Museum with a mini-train exhibit and hands-on activities at 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 5 

Indigenous Autonomy and Resistance: A Report from Chiapas and the Indigenous Encuentro in Sonora at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Suggested donation $7-$10. Proceeds Benefit Zapatista Autonomous Health Care in San Manuel. 654-9587. 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Class on Favoring Fiber at 8:30 a.m. at Bella Vista, 1025 E. 28th St., Oakland. To register call 595-6445. 

“Avalanche Awareness” A lecture at 6:30 p.m. at Marmot Mountain Works, 3049 Adeline St. Cost is $15. 209-753-6556 ext. 1. www.mtadventure.com  

American Red Cross Blood Services is holding a volunteer orientation from 10 a.m. to noon. Various East Bay opportunities available. Advanced sign-up is required; call 594-5165.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

THURSDAY, DEC. 6 

America’s Current and Impending Wars: From Campus to the Middle East. A teach-in at UC Berkeley at 7 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle. www.btiaw.org 

It’s the Economy, Stupid: The Growing Anxiety of the Middle Class and the Future of American Politics with Jacob Hacker, Yale University Political Science, professor and author of “The Great Risk Shift” at 6:30 p.m. at UC Berkeley Labor Center, 2521 Channing Way. 642-6371. andreabuffa@berkeley.edu  

The Homeschool Make-and-Take Craft Fair with handcrafted items, and opportunity to make some; food, entertainment and raffle, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. Benefits the Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center in Berkeley. www.womensdropin.org 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss post-apocalyptic futures at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6121. 

Juggling for Peace Learn juggling and plate spinning at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Marine Recruiting Station, Shattuck Square. 524-2776. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.


Arts Calendar

Tuesday November 27, 2007

TUESDAY, NOV. 27 

CHILDREN 

First Stage Children’s Theater “Stone Soup: The Musical” at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5 at the door. 

FILM 

“Film and Video at CCA: Performative, Gestural, Collaborative Work” with filmmakers in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761.  

George Higgins & Jerry Ratch at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 525-5476.  

CJ Pascoe, author, in conversation with Barrie Thorne on “Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity & Sexuality in High School” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Robert Kuttner discusses “The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Edmund Welles Bass Clarinet Quartet, avant jazz, heavy chamber music, black metal, and classic rock at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club. 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $20. 525-5211.  

LeRoy Thomas & The Zydeco Roadrunners at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Randy Craig Trio , jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Bilal, neo-soul jazz vocalist, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 28 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paula Kamen disucsses “Finding Iris Chang” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Mark Schapiro and Michael Pollan in conversation on “Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products: Who’s at Risk and What’s at Stake for American Power” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $5-$13. 559-9500. 

Melanie West reads from her new legal thriller “Conflict of Interest” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Book Store, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

“Writing Teachers Write” teacher/student readings from the Bay Area Writing Project at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland City Center Holiday Concert with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir at noon at 12th and Broadway, Oakland.  

U.C. Jazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $6. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Billy Dunn & Bluesway at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West coast swing dance at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Rumbache at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Crowsong at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Leni Stern at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Bilal, neo-soul jazz vocalist, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, NOV. 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 12:15 and 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“n+1: The Function of the Small Magazine at the Present Time” with editors of the journal on literature, politics and culture at 6 p.m. at 141 McCone Hall, UC Campus.  

Joanna Katz will show slides and talk about her paintings and mixed media pieces in the current show Magpies@Giorgi at 4 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave., at Ashby. 647-3513. 

Elizabeth Currid on “The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

“The Legacy of Berkeley Parks: A Century of Planning and Making” with Marcia Grady, Sadie Graham and Louise Mozingo at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

Alice Rothchild reads from her new book “Broken Promises, Broken Dreams - Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resiliance” at 7:30 p.m. at Kehilla Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont.  

Stephen Vincent and Pat Reed, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Adam David Miller introduces “Ticket to Exile: A Memoir” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tallis Scholars “Poetry in Music for the Virgin Mary” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Durant and Dana. Tickets are $48. 642-9988.  

Culann’s Hounds at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Irish dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

UC Berkeley’s The Movement Fall 2007 Showcase Thurs. and Fri. at 8 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $9 at the door. ucb.movement.showcase@gmail.com 

Savoy Family Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

John Williams Gordon Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Tracy Sirota, folk rock, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Tresspassers, Bluegrass Revolution at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Fred O’Dell & the Broken Arrows at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Roy Haynes and Birds of a Feather at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $16-$28. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, NOV. 30 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “The Man Who Saved Christmas” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through Dec. 16. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553.  

Aurora Theatre Company “Sex” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 9. Tickets are $28-$50. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Playhouse “Seussical, the Musical” Thurs.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sat. at 2 p.m., Sun. at 3 pm. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Dec. 2. Tickets are $18-$23. 665-5565.  

Berkeley Rep “After the Quake” at the Trust Stage, 2025 Addison St., through Dec. 21. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Black Repertory Group “A Rasin in the Sun” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St., through Dec. 14. Tickets are $10-$20. 652-2120. 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., at Contra Costa Civic Theatre, 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through Dec. 9. Tickets are $11-$18. 524-9132.  

Impact Theatre “A Very Special Money & Run Winter Season Holiday Special” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Dec. 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468.  

Masquers Playhouse “Little Mary Sunshine” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through Dec. 15. Tickets are $18. 232-4031.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Site Revamped” Paintings by Marty McCorkle and Rachel Dawson. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at the Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. 444-7411.  

“Commemorating 100 Years of the Hellenic Presence in the Bay Area” A pictoral exhibit and reception at 4 p.m. at Ascension Community Cener, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. www.ascensioncathedral.org 

“Radical Graphics of Taller Tupac Amaru” opens at 550 Second St., Jack London Square, Oakland. www.proartsgallery.org  

Touchable Stories “Richmond: The Story Continues” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 6 p.m. at Old Kaiser Cafeteria, Shipyard #3, 1303 Canal Blvd., Richmond. Cost is $6-$12. Reservations required. 619-3675. www.touchablestories.org 

“Purple Holidaze” Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Gallery Eclectix, 7523 Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito. 364-7261. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Mark Wilson on “Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ross Dance Company “Speak” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Cost is $15-$20. 428-9339. www.rossdance.com 

Summer of Love Salute to benefit Berkeley Liberation Radio with the Barry “the Fish” Melton Band, the Nick Gravenites Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054.  

Marvin Sanders, flute, Lena Lubotsky, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery 2911 Claremont Ave., at Ashby. 848-1228. 

Circus Oz “The Laughing Gravity Tour” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988.  

UC Berkeley’s The Movement Fall 2007 Showcase at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $9 at the door. ucb.movement.showcase@gmail.com 

Babtunde Lea’s “Summoning of the Ghost” Tribute to Electric Miles and Beyond at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Xile and Xocolate with Meklit Hadero from Ethiopia and MamaCoatl from Mexico at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

Terrence Brewer Quintet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Euphonia at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tom Paxton at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761.  

Kismet-Mahal at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The Flux, Frame of Mind at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Swoop Unit at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Roy Haynes and Birds of a Feather at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $16-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Colibri at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568.  

Andy Z, imaginative musical journeys, at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

“Short Attention Span Circus” with Jean Paul Valjean Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave, off Grand Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Recent Landscape Photographs by Rob Reiter” Reception at 2 p.m. at The LightRoom Gallery, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. 

Poster Art of David Lance Goines on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sun. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 1186 Cedar St. 

“The Art and History of Early California” opens at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. 

“Caalliiffoorrnniiaa Baakkeelliittee” Photographs by Richard Toronto. Opening reception at 5 p.m. at The Gallery at Lavezzo Designs, 5751 Horton St., Emeryville. 

Beaded Artwork from South Africa, in commemoration of World AIDS Day, on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Vital Life Services, 5720 Shattuck Ave. at 57th St., Oakland. 593-6690. 

FILM 

“The Living End” with filmmaker Gregg Araki in person at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Made In Equilibrium” works by Michele Elizabeth Lee, Brady Nadell and Ross Drago. Artist talk at 3 p.m. at ABCo Artspace, 3135 Oakland, Oakland. www.abcoartspace.com 

Anna Furtado on the second installment in her lesbian historical fiction series, “The Briarcrest Chronicles” at 7 p.m. at Laurel Book Store, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. 531-2073. 

C.S. Giscombe, Susan Gevirtz, Brian Awehali and Catherine Meng read at 2 p.m. at Small Press Distribution Open House 1341 7th St. at Gilman. 524-1668.  

Bay Area Poets Coalition holds an open reading, 3 to 5 p.m., at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. 527-9905.  

Poetry Flash with Susan Kelly-DeWitt and Sandra McPherson at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra “Puccini’s Messa di Gloria” at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free, donations appreciated. 

Showcase of Bay Area Chamber Music Artists from 3 to 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Piano Club, 2427 Haste St. at Dana. Free, reservations suggested. 415-820-153., www.sffcm.org 

Three Trapped Tigers with Tom Bickley and David Barnett, recorders, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Cost is $8-$12. 549-3864. 

Terry Bradford with Voena children’s choir, at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $23-$26. 925-798-1300. 

Ross Dance Company “Speak” at 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon St., Oakland. Cost is $15-$20. 428-9339. 

Erica Azim, traditional Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. Cost is $15 at the door. 548-6053.  

Mike Glendinning, guitarist, songwriter CD release party at 2 p.m. at Pri Pri Cafe, 1309 Solano, Albany. Cost is $5. Proceeds will go to the Stroke Awareness Foundation. 528-7002. 

Anton Mitzerak & Kim Lorene, world music, at 7 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Donations welcome. 528-8844. 

Gamelan Sari Raras at 7 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-4864.  

Saed Muhssin’s Arab Orchestra of San Francisco & La Peña Community Choru at 8 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568.  

Lloyd Gregory Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

“Musical Night in Africa” at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. 

Sotaque Baiano at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Katherine Peck and Michael Burles at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Ramblin Jack Elliott at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

WeBe3 with Rhiannon, Joey Blake and David Worm, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Pat Nevins and Ragged Glory at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

SUNDAY, DEC. 2 

CHILDREN 

Asheba with Women of the World at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

EXHIBITIONS 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

Poster Art of David Lance Goines on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 1186 Cedar St. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance” with editor Victoria Zackheim, at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman introdce their graphic novel “Shooting War” at 3 p.m. at Comic Relief of Berkeley, 2026 Shattuck Ave 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra “Puccini’s Messa di Gloria” at 4:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free, donations appreciated. 

California Bach Society performs Charpentier’s “In Nativitatem Domini Canticum” at 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft at Ellsworth. Tickets are $10-$25. 415-262-0272. www.calbach.org 

Voci “Voices in Peace: VII: Winter Stillness” at 7 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$20, free for children under 12. www.vocisings.com 

WomenSing Holiday Concert at 4 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$25. 925-974-9169. www.womensing.org 

“Messiah-Sing” in Baroque Style at 6 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. Suggested donation $10, no one turned away. 525-0302. 

Savoy Family Cajun Band at 1 p.m. at Down Home Music on Fourth St. 525-2129. 

Girl Talk Band, world jazz, at 1:30 p.m. at The Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Roots, Sass and Jazz” with Rhonda Benin, Darlene Coleman, Muziki Roberson and others at 4 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St. All ages. Tickets are $10-$15. 836-4649. www.blackmusiciansforum.org 

Laurel Ensemble with Lori Lack, piano, and Catherine Seidel, soprano, “All About Igor Stravinsky” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$15. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Classical South-Indian Dance Performance with Zavain Dar and Rebecca Whittington at 5 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 301 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $5-$7. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/23493 

Oakland East Bay Symphony “Let Us Break BRead Together” with teh Oakland Symphony Chorus, Mt. Eden H.S. Choir, Kugelplex, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and Piedont Choirs at 4 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway. 625-8497. 

Twang Cafe featuring Doug Blumer and the Beer Hunters, Pam Brandon & Maurice Tani, Chickwagon, at 7:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $10. www.twangcafe.org 

Holly Near at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Junius Courtney Big Band from 3 to 6 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. All ages welcome. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Con Alma Jazztet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Troublemakers Union, international music for human rights, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Ambrose Akinmusire at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Savoy Family Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Nate Cooper at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, DEC. 3 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Aurora Theatre Company Script Club “Born Yesterday” by Garson Kanin with Maureen McVerry and Paul Heller at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. 843-4822. 

“If Lost Then Found” with Kristin Lucas, artist, at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565. http://atc.berkeley.edu 

Frank Moore, poetry, at 6 p.m. at Cafe Leila, 1724 San Pablo Ave. 526-7858. 

Poetry Express with Sayre Mingan, youth poet, at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ed Neff and Friends, bluegrass, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org


Vincent, Reed Talk Poetry at Pegasus

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Poets Stephen Vincent (author of the newly published Junction Press collection, Walking Theory) and Pat Reed, both Bay Area poets noted for close observation of landscapes, will read 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Pegasus Books, at 2349 Shattuck Ave. 

Vincent is a native of Richmond, and, excepting two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, lecturing at the University of Nigeria-Nsukka, a lifelong Bay Area resident. He lives in San Francisco. A founding coordinator of California Poetry-in-the-Schools, Vincent lectures at the SF Art Institute and teaches creative writing at the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. He leads a walking and writing workshop for Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program.  

Vincent is the founder and publisher of Momo’s Press and is director of arts for book publisher Bedford Arts. His other titles include Walking (also from Junction Press), Towards Spicer (Cherry on the Top Press) and Sleeping With Sappho (faux ebooks). 

Vincent’s new collection alternates between observations and ruminations of what he sees on his walks, and elegies, especially for his father and his brother, but also for friends and for jazz musician Steve Lacy: “no one ever said the roll/would stop rolling ... / ... we strange ones, so familiar.” 

Repetition and restatement weave together the strands of immediate experience with loss and reflections on language. Poet Beverly Dahlen noted: “[Walking Theory] enhances the ancient association of the foot as measure of the poetic line ... measure becomes metaphor: ‘ ... foot ever to the ground, image by image, / thought by thought, word by word ...’.”  

A whimsical quality also enters in: “Leave a spiral jetty on the hill/little stone by little stone. / vary the color—dark to bright— / say hello, say good-bye.”  

Or, more abstruse: “Falling in love with Aphasia: / ( ) / Will you be mine? / Will you not say a thing? / Breathe on me.”  

Pat Reed was born “under the landing patterns of LAX,” and “grew up with her feet in the Pacific Ocean.”  

After years of “practicing violin ... in a walk-in closet,” she discovered poetry at 19, and moved from Southern California to the Bay Area about 25 years ago.  

She’s studied literature at UC Berkeley, surfed, played fiddle and practiced Soto Zen at Green Gulch Ranch in Marin and at the Berkeley Zen Center. She lives in Oakland, where she’s taught—and written about teaching-—South-East Asian immigrants over about a decade.  

She teaches at Cal State Hayward.  

Her poems often read as quick, sometimes humorous glimpses of nature, with a sense of the gaze that’s perceiving: “Aspen / flip’t the sun- / light /and the speckled deer / bound at me / blink’t big eye / lifted an ear / swiveled its head / & tore at the / thorny berry.” 

The series at Pegasus has featured notable internationally known poets, such as Nathaniel Tarn, as well as local writers. Schedules and info can be found at: pegasusbookstore.com. Clay Banes, series programmer, posts a blog, “eyeball hatred.” 

Owen Hill, who organizes readings at Moe’s Books on Telegraph Avenue, commented, “Clay really knows what he’s doing, and has been programming a good series, though it’s been a little under the radar. I hope it gets more recognition.”


Around the East Bay

Tuesday November 27, 2007

WRIGHT CENTENNIAL  

 

Oakland Public Theater is launching an ongoing reading project for Richard Wright’s centennial at 7 p.m. Wednesday (the anniversary of Wright’s death in Paris in 1960) at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland. The event will feature a reading of “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” focussing on the influence of the church on Wright and his fellow black expatriate writers and others he worked with or affected, such as James Baldwin, Chester Himes and Ralph Ellison. Readings will be drawn from Wright’s and others’ works, as well as biographical materials. Conceived by Richmond playwright and actor Richard Talavera, the series is directed by Oakland’s Norman Gee, and will explore various themes in the life of the author of Native Son, that black sequel to Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, and Black Boy, at different venues every month. Free admission. 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 534-9529 or richardwrightproject@gmail.com 


Books: Looking Beyond Ken Burns’ ‘The War’

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Ken Burns’ latest monumental television production is currently being shown on PBS channels. The War follows more than 40 people from 1941 to 1945, focusing on the citizens of Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Mobile, Alabama. The book companion to the series, The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945, is available in public libraries.  

When I watched and listened to The War, the words and photographs of two of the men who appear throughout—Quentin C. Aanenson of Luverne and Eugene Bondourant Sledge of Mobile—were particularly poignant, especially episode 5: “FUBAR—fucked up beyond all repair.”  

I was living in the Unites States during World War II, contemporary with these then-young heroes. Three of my friends had already enlisted. One, a Nisei, was stationed in cold isolated Minnesota teaching Japanese in six-week rotations. Another was shipped overseas in the Queen Elizabeth’s depths and stationed outside London on General Eisenhower’s clerical staff, diving into a rain-filled fox hole during nightly air-raids. The third, with an incredibly high IQ, was assigned to type and “transport” (drive.) They later used their GI Bills—Hisako earning an M.S. degree, Justine a B.A., and Dorothy a Ph.D; none married.  

I sent soap and stockings to my English Red Cross club counterpart, who had been evacuated from London and already lost some of her hearing in the bombings, and she squeezed handwriting onto both sides of scraps of paper. We became lifelong friends a la Helene Hanff’s 84, Charing Cross Road. 

 

 

In 1994 I chanced upon a brief television interview of Aanenson describing “A Fighter Pilot’s Story,” a VHS production he had created for his family. The World Catalog indicates its presence in collections of 43 public, academic and military libraries, two of which are in California: the Los Angeles County Public Library at Downey and the Ontario City Library.  

I was so impressed with this compassionate man that I asked the editor of The Library Journal, for which I reviewed videos and books, to consider it for LJ reviews.  

My review from 17 years ago began:  

“Using personal photos, combat film, period music and correspondence, 73-year-old Aanenson created this masterwork to explain his World War II combat experience to his family. The ‘story’ is of a 20-year-old Army Air Corps enlistetee as he learns to fly the P-47 Thunderbolt, meets his future spouse, is commissioned, and flies European missions beginning with D-Day. (It aired on PBS as part of 1994 D-Day commemoration.) This touching first-person narrative and photographs convey the emotional and physical transformation wrought by the brutality of war conveys a young man who ‘nearly lost all hope.’ Sensitivity, insight, and meticulous record-keeping combine with forthright presentation to make this hero’s narrative unique. Essential for all public, college, and most libraries serving adults and young adults...” [Library Journal 120, April 1, 1995] 

Now an elder, Aanenson appears again, contributing significantly to The War as both a narrator and the fighter pilot. The production team wisely uses his military footage and personal films, diary entries and letters to convey the tragic story of one man’s war from a very personal viewpoint. For pilot Quentin Aanenson, combat brought moments of intense anguish. In a clip posted on The War website, he remembers one mission when his plane’s machine gun fire sent the bodies of German soldiers flying. “When I got back home to the base in Normandy and landed, I got sick,” he says. “I had to think about what I had done … that didn’t change my resolve for the next day. I went out and did it again and again and again and again.” 

 

 

“For the men of the ‘old breed’ who struggled, bled, died, and eventually won on Peleliu and Okinawa, Sledgehammer is their most eloquent spokesman. I’m proud to have served with them—and with him,” declares U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Captain Thomas J. Stanley.  

Eugene Bondourant Sledge (1923-2001) was “Sledgehammer” to his fellow rifle company Marines and “E. B. Sledge” as author of With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, first published by Novato’s Presidio Press in 1981. UC Berkley’s main collection holds a copy of the illustrated edition for which historian Paul Fussell, another The War narrator, has provided a worthy introduction. Fussell’s own horrific and disillusioning World War II service led to his 1996 book, Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic. He writes, “If it was Sledge’s fine sensibility that caused him to suffer more than some, it is that same sensibility that in this book has kept the distinctions firm, the compassion warm, the imagination agile, and the values admirable.”  

Sledge prefaces his book, “My Pacific war experiences have haunted me, and it has been a burden to retain this story ... I’m fulfilling an obligation I have long felt to my companions in the lst Marine Division, who suffered so much for our country. None came out unscathed.”  

One of the many casualties is his initial innocence about human evil: “Something in me died at Peleliu.” 

Today not many Americans can comprehend (let alone pronounce) what happened in places called Bouganville, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Morotai, Noumea, Palau, Pavuvu, Peleliu, Okinawa—other than “The Teahouse of the August Moon.”  

Sledge takes the reader into “the abyss of Peleliu” and on to “the bloody muddy month of May on Okinawa” that almost drove him insane and about which 50 years later he still had nightmares. Supposed to take three or four days, it lasted for almost two months, one of the worst slaughters of Marines in the Pacific. Many now believe that the invasion of this six-square mile island was entirely unnecessary. 

“As I looked at the stains on the coral, I recalled some of the eloquent phrases of politicians and newsmen about how ‘gallant’ it is for a man to ‘shed his blood for his country,’ and ‘to give his life’s blood as a sacrifice,’ and so on. The words seemed so ridiculous. Only the flies benefited … None of us would ever be the same after what we had endured. To some degree that is true, of course, of all human experience. But something in me died at Peleliu. Perhaps it was a childish innocence that accepts as faith the claim that man is basically good. Possibly I lost faith that politicians in high places who do not have to endure war’s savagery will ever stop blundering and sending others to endure it.”  

 

 

Following World War II, I began to reject that giving their lives phrase. Today, when, instead, I say taking their lives, at best I get a questioning look. 

Despite the old saw about one picture being worth a thousand words, I shall avoid the likes of the mini TV-series said to be forthcoming from DreamWorks, Inc., creators of Band of Brothers. It “will tell the intertwined stories of three Marines during America’s battles with the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II.” Joseph Mazzello has been cast as Eugene Sledge; filming locations include Australia. 

Nothing can take the place of viewing/listening to “A Fighter Pilot’s Story,” which is extremely verbal, and slowly reading With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Both are still essential for the collections of all public, college, and most libraries serving adults and young adults. I commend Sledge to those who determine community book-reading; while he’s not in the public library’s collection and the university’s circulating collection is not accessible to ordinary folk, Amazon makes it possible to be in spirit with the Old Breed.


Wild Neighbors: Thanksgiving with the Grebes and Scoters

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday November 27, 2007

Chopped fish and mealworms: not your classic Thanksgiving menu. But that’s what the eared and horned grebes at the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRCC) were getting. The larger birds—surf scoters, greater scaup, western grebes, common murres—were fed whole fish. The coots, according to a whiteboard notation, got a side of bloodworms “if we have any bloodworms.” 

I had volunteered for holiday duty (along with some 40 other people, as it turns out; the staff was hard put to find work for all of us) and had been assigned the fish-chopping detail, retrieving thawing small fish from a tub and scissoring them into diagonal chunks. I took them to be anchovies at first, but someone told me they were smelt. Not the endangered delta smelt, which is supposed to smell of cucumbers; these guys smelled unequivocally fishy. 

The IBRRC, an institution that deserves to be better known, is in Cordelia, near the 80/680 junction and the northern fringe of Suisun Marsh. Founded in Berkeley after the 1971 Oregon Standard oil spill and housed for years at Aquatic Park, it moved up here 30 years later. What the IBRCC does is the gold standard of oiled-bird care. Veterinarians and other emergency responders are here from as far away as Chile and Germany to watch the staff deal with the aftermath of the Cosco Busan spill, and to lend a hand themselves. 

Two weeks after the container ship hit the Bay Bridge, operations were winding down here. New birds were still being brought in, but only a trickle in comparison with the original flood. I found a current tally on the whiteboard in the break room: as of 10 p.m. on Nov. 21, 1,053 birds had arrived alive. Of those, 745 had been washed with Dawn detergent, and 133 had been released at Pillar Point and in Tomales Bay. Another 80 to 100 were undergoing blood testing and a veterinary check as candidates for release. A further 1,544 had been picked up dead, and were filling up the IBRCC’s freezers. 

Most of the birds awaiting evaluation and release were surf scoters, black-and-white orange-billed drakes and dark-brown ducks. There are thousands of them on San Francisco Bay this time of year; over 75 percent of the whole North American population winters locally. They’ve been hammered by contaminants in the Bay and logging and climate change on their boreal forest nesting grounds. They didn’t need to encounter 58,000 gallons of bunker oil. 

The scoters—and scaup, grebes, murres, common loons, bufflehead, and ruddy ducks—were housed in converted backyard pools, covered with netting to keep the spill victims in and opportunistic egrets and other fish-eaters out. Each pool bore a “No Diving” warning, but the birds were ignoring it. Diving, though, is what got them in trouble in the first place. All these species forage by diving for fish or mollusks from the water’s surface. Birds that make their living in other ways were less affected. 

But the spill cast a broad net. Nearly 40 species have been brought to the IBRCC, dead or alive: five species of grebes, three of loons, eight of ducks, five of gulls. There were a couple of shorebirds (black turnstone, lesser yellowlegs), a few pelagic seabirds (northern fulmar, rhinoceros auklet), even sparrows and starlings. And three raccoons, all DOA, presumably drowned while scavenging oiled bird carcasses. 

Chopping the smelt, which can become a fairly absorbing task, I was surrounded by controlled chaos. A volunteer named Sandra directed the movement of birds from pool to pen to examining station using three whiteboards and colored cardboard tags. (The next time this happens, and it will, the IBRCC may use microchips to track the traffic.) Plywood pens were being moved and sluiced down with pressure hoses. Yet another media crew, this one from a Sacramento TV station, arrived midmorning and had to be escorted around. 

Between food prep and towel folding, I got to watch a western grebe’s pre-evaluation. It was swaddled in a towel and not happy to be on the examining table. The vet took a blood sample and examined its yellow-green legs, which appeared swollen: too much time out of the water before it was rescued. It would have to stay in its pool a bit longer. Others with the right blood values and weight would get to go out. 

And I got to meet UC Davis oil spill response veterinarian Greg Massey, who, with Oiled Wildlife Care Network director Michael Ziccardi, will be trying to learn more about treating oiled birds so as to be better prepared for that inevitable next time. They’ll be looking at infrared imaging to detect which birds are losing body weight, better sanitation at the rescue center, blood analyses as more effective predictors of survival. 

If there’s a bright spot to the whole sorry Cosco Busan saga—the bungling, the flailing response, the neglect of whole stretches of badly oiled shoreline, don’t get me started—it’s what the folks at IBRCC, and its affiliated rescue centers like WildCare, are doing. There are still some heroes around. 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

A scaup drake revels in his restored waterproofing and apparent health, in a pool at the International Bird Rescue Research Center’s Cordelia facility.


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday November 27, 2007

TUESDAY, NOV. 27 

El Cerrito Democratic Club meets to discuss the endorsement of February ballot initiatives, with Abdi Soltani, Executive Director of the Campaign for College Opportunity at 7:30 p.m. at ECDCs new location, El Cerrito United Methodist Church, 6830 Stockton St., near Richmond Ave. Members of the public are welcome. 375-5647. www.ecdclub.org 

“Bicycle Touring in Italy” A slide presentation with Paul and Teri Hudson at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling Class for homeowners who want to learn to detect and remedy lead hazards in the home. From 6 to 8 p.m. at Emeryville Recreation Center, 4300 San Pablo Ave, Emeryville. Free, but resgistration required. 567-8280. www.aclppp.org 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Theater Lobby. 644-4803. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets to discuss computer problems and remedies at 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St., near corner of Eunice. MelDancing@aol.com 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at West Pauley Ballroom MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

“Accupressure for Pain” with Lawrence Schectman at noon at the Fibromyalgia Education Group, Herrick Campus, Alta Bates Medical Center, 2001 Dwight Way, followed by pot-luck. 644-3273.  

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 28 

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park in Oakland. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue. 834-1066. 

“Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power” with Mark Schapiro in conversation with Michael Pollan at 7:30 pm at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. For tickets contact 415-255-7296. ext. 253. www.globalexchange.org/events 

“Holiday Giving: Think Green, Think Fair Trade, and Don’t Get Scammed” Program and Holiday Party with the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. 548-9696. 

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium with Ruth Tringham on “Multi-scalar Spatial Context of Past Social Practices” at 1 p.m. at Wurster Hall, Room 315A, UC Campus. All welcome. laep.ced.berkeley.edu/events/colloquium 

Small Business Loan Application Night with Lenders for Community Development, a not-for-profit providing loans and business consulting to low-income business owners who cannot qualify for bank loans from 5 to 7 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. RSVP to 1-866-299-8173. buildcredit@L4CD.com  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss derivative titles at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6121. 

War and Peace Book Group meets to discuss “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut at 7 p.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

THURSDAY, NOV. 29 

“The Legacy of Berkeley Parks: A Century of Planning and Making” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St.  

BASIL Seed Library Meeting Learn how to support local garden seed saving at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 658-9178. 

“Using Science and Technologies for Environmental and Health Problems in Developing Countries” with Christina Galitsky of LBNL at the Association for Women in Science meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Novartis, Room 4.104, 4560 Horton St. Suggested donation $5-$10. www.ebawis.org 

Green Collar Jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area at noon at Morgan Hall Lounge, 114 Morgan Hall, UC Campus. 642-6371. 

“Broken Promises, Broken Dreams - Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resiliance” with author Alice Rothchild at 7:30 p.m. at Kehilla Synagogue located at 1300 Grand Avenue, Piedmont.  

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

FRIDAY, NOV. 30 

“The Camden 28” a documentary on the nonviolent antiwar resistors who were arrested in the summer of 1971 for the break-in at the Camden NJ draft board, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, Sacramento & Cedar. 923-1853. 

East Bay Paratransit A community meeting with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock at 1 p.m. at North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, entrance at parking lot at 58th St., Oakland. 559-1406. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read “Hamlet” and other plays based on the classic, at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6121. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from noon to 1 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Donald H. Blevins, Chief Probation Officer, Alameda County, “How the Alameda County Probation System Serves its Citizens” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 

Native American Pow Wow with drumming, dancing, Native American crafts and foods, and activities for children, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sun. from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Laney College Gymnasium, 900 Fallon St. at 10th, Oakland. Benefits American Indian Child Resource Center. 208-1870, ext. 310. 

Spinning a Yarn Listen to fairy tales inpired by spinners and watch the spinning wheel turn at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Alternative Gift Market, with gifts that can change the world - medical supplies for Darfur, reforestation in Haiti, or shelter for our neighbors here in the East Bay, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. 236-4348. 

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant’s Crafts Fair with world crafts and art from Africa, Central America, Haiti, Palestine, Afghanistan and Tibet, Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana.  

California College of the Arts Holiday Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oliver Art Center, CCA’s Oakland campus, 5212 Broadway, at College Ave.  

Berkeley Artisans Open Studios Sat and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Dec. 16. 845-2612. www.berkeleyartisans.com 

Richmond Art Center Holiday Art Festival with art and craft sale, hands-on art activities for children and silent auction, from noon to 5 p.m. at 2540 Barrett Ave., at 25th St., Richmond. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

Alameda Artists Holiday Open Studios Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A map of open studios is available at www.ci.alameda.ca.us/arpd 

Masala Artist Collective Holiday Bazaar from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Swarm Gallery, 560 Second St., Oakland. 654-9180. 

Small Press Distribution Holiday Open House with a book sale and readings from noon to 4 p.m. at 1341 7th St. at Gilman. 524-1668.  

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library Holiday Book Sale with books, pamphlets, and more, at 10 a.m. 595-7417. 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour of “The Hillside School” Built in 1925 by Walter Ratcliff, led by Kay Dolit and Carolyn Adams. Walk is from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. To register and for information on meeting place call 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/ 

Plant Natives on Berkeley Paths Join Friends of Five Creeks and Berkeley Path Wanderers to plant natives along pathways in the Upper Codornices Creek watershed. Call to RSVP. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Walk the Upper Claremont with Berkeley Path Wanderers Explore history, trails, and hidden open spaces in the upper Claremont area on a Berkeley Path Wanderers Association walk. Meet at 10 a.m. at Peet’s Coffee, 2916 Domingo. 849-1969. www.berkeleypaths.org 

French Broom Removal Volunteers needed to remove the broom in Redwood Regional Park. We provide the tools. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Skyline Gate staging area, 8500 Skyline Blvd. 812-8265. 

Fungus Fair: A Celebration of Wild Mushrooms Explore the mysteries of the mushroom, with exhibits, slidetalks, mushroom marketplace, tasty mushroom soup for sale, and hands-on fungus fun for the whole family, Sat. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from noon to 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. 

Book Drive for West County Reads Bring your book donations to Jenny K at 6927 Stockton Ave. and Well Grounded Coffee and Tea, 6925 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito, Sat. and Sun. between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. www.westcountyreads.org  

“Sowing Seeds” Humane Education Workshop for teachers and advocates for social justice and environmental preservation, Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sun. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 240 Mulford, UC Campus. Registration is $125, students $35. Financial aid available. sowingseeds@HumanEducation.org 

Behind the Scenes at Pixar Animation Studios Benefit for the Emery Ed Fund at 11 a.m. at Pixar Animation Studios, 1200 Park Ave., Emeryville. Tickets are $100 and up. 601-4911. 

Political Affairs Readers Group “Class Struggle in a Socialist Market Economy” A discussion at 10 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Sponsored by the Communist Party USA, Oakland Berkeley Branch. Articles available at www.politicalaffairs.com 

Produce Stand at Spiral Gardens Food Security Project from 1 to 6 p.m. at the corner of Sacramento and Oregon St. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, DEC. 2 

22nd Annual Holiday Appeal for Class-War Prisoners from 3 to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita Ave. at Cedar. Cost is $5-$10. 839-0852. 

Making Natural Holiday Wreaths Learn about fir, bay and other flora and how to use them, from noon to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Please bring a pair of small hand-clippers, a large flat box and a bag lunch. Not appropriate for children under 8. Cost of $25-$34. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Berkeley Artisans Open Studios from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Dec. 16. 845-2612. www.berkeleyartisans.com 

Richmond Art Center Holiday Arts Festival with arts and crafts, silent auction, children’s art activities from noon to 5 p.m. at 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. 

Albany Holiday Art Show and Sale, with watercolors, drawings, paintings and etchings, acrylic paintings, cards, bookmarks and more, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 559-7226. 

Masala Artist Collective Holiday Bazaar from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Swarm Gallery, 560 Second St., Oakland. 654-9180. 

Old Time Radio East Bay Collectors and listeners gather to enjoy shows together at 5 p.m. at a private home in Berkeley. For more information email DavidinBerkeley at Yahoo.com. 

“Using Filters in Photoshop” with Don Melandry, photoimager, at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107.  

Cool Schools Warming Campaign for middle and high school students to learn how to take action against global warming in their schools and communities, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the College and Career Center, Berkeley High School, 1980 Allston Way, at Milvia. RSVP to 704-4030. chicory@earthteam.net 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker on “Are We Ready for the Truth?” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, DEC. 3 

“Protecting North Richmond Wetlands” with Rich Walkling of Natural Heritage Institute at 7 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin at Masonic. Free. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Nov. 27, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Nov. 28, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484.  

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Commission meets Thurs., Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487.


Correction

Tuesday November 27, 2007

 

The Nov. 23 story “Judge Throws Out Oak-to-9th Plan EIR” mistakenly stated that Alex Katz, communications director in the Oakland’s city attorney’s office, said the court agreed with the city on 14 of the EIR complaints and with the plaintiffs on 10 issues. Mr. Katz had said the court had agreed with the city on 10 issues and with the plaintiffs on four issues, for a total of 14 issues.